Just Good Mates
by Basmathgirl
Summary: What if the metacrisis was only one way? And what if Donna disapproved of the Doctor's plan? Set after the events of JE, where only Rose got dumped anywhere, the Doctor runs into his best friend. Rating changed to M for safety sake.
1. 1 When He Knew

**Prompt:** The Doctor actually realizes he can't give the Duplicate to Rose because there's a bond between Handy and Donna.

**Warning:** This contains a few mild swear words. And this makes a reference to a BBC Radio 4 comedy drama.

**Summary:** I've slightly twisted the prompt and used the question: what if the metacrisis was only one way? Set after the events of JE, where only Rose got dumped anywhere, the Doctor runs into his best friend.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own much here apart from the DVD of this. Shame on me.

**A/N:** another fic written for the Alternative Handy Fic Challenge set by **tkelparis **and posted today to wish her** Happy Birthday**.

**A/N2:** This is how Just Around The Corner was originally meant to go before the angst got me.

* * *

**Just Good Mates**

**Part 1: When He Knew**

.

When he really thought about it, the Doctor could pinpoint the exact moment he had known he was lost; it was when Donna opened her mum's front door to him and he self-consciously uttered the words, "You would not believe the day I have just had!"

He had known because she had merely looked at him with understanding, compassion and amusement. Rose would have dived on him and kissed his cheek, Martha would have hugged him while coyly hoping for a kiss; but Donna had stepped aside and let him enter her home, accepting who he was and what he had gone through at his word. In that moment he knew for certain that he loved her and this pseudo domesticity. He was returning home, to Donna.

After that their friendship just grew and grew, as did his own personal feelings; but nothing happened beyond keeping a respectful distance if you ignored the kitchen episode…. Something that they had mutually decided to ignore with a passion.

* * *

That respectful distance fortunately included the ability to share a bed on the odd occasion.

The Doctor and Donna happily snuggled together on her bed, enjoying their close proximity tremendously. Donna threw an arm around his neck, and declared, "I love you, Spaceman!"

The Doctor grinned madly with pride at her words. "And I love you, Donna Noble!" he declared in kind.

She then snuggled down, burying her face in his chest. "You're the best friend ever. I hope you are always my friend."

He felt his grin melt off his face and slide downwards. "Friend?" he queried sadly.

All she did was nod her agreement before slipping into sleep.

The Doctor could have cried. Here he was, cuddled up in bed with someone he was in love with and all she saw him as was a friend; her best friend. This was so unfair! He was supposed to be her knight in shining armour; he was supposed to sweep her off her feet. For goodness sake, she was supposed to fall in love with him, and _not_ write him off as safe with a 'friend' label!

He gazed down at the woman in his arms, and wondered if he ought to ask Jack for some advice. No, he couldn't see himself doing that. Donna would be his best friend for ever!

* * *

The Doctor watched stunned as Donna stomped away from him. "Are you serious?" she demanded as anger blazed across her features. "You want to send him with her… to _that_ alternate universe? Oh no you don't! Over my dead body you will!"

"Donna, be reasonable," he tried to argue.

"Reasonable! I'll give you bloody reasonable! How can you turn away your own flesh and blood like this?" She was almost apoplectic now. "He stays with me, and if you can't stand the sight of him that much then I'd better walk out that door and take him with me, right now!"

"No, Donna! Please don't leave me," he pleaded, oblivious to the stares Rose was giving him as he raced passed her.

But all Donna did was look sadly back at him. "You've made your mind up; I know what you are like, Spaceman. You want to give him away and I can't let you do that," she said vehemently. "While you drop Rose off I'll be packing."

His chance to stop her heading for her room was sabotaged by Rose wanting to know why she was being returned to the Alternate Universe. He really could have done without all that fuss. And he couldn't deflect the situation onto his duplicate because he had gone with Donna to help her get her stuff together.

When it was down to just him, Donna and the duplicate left in the TARDIS he was almost in tears as they piloted the ship to Chiswick. "Are you sure about this?" he quietly asked them.

"Only as sure as you are in the opposite direction," Donna replied, cupping his cheek with a last fond gesture. "Have a nice life. I'll miss you."

The duplicate stepped up and took her hand. "Come on Donna. Let's find where we'll be welcome," he encouraged her; and they walked out of the TARDIS and the Doctor's life.

* * *

Donna woke up feeling very grumpy; not an unusual thing to happen these days, she conceded. It was just the thought of starting in yet another new place as she strove to find 'the perfect job' now. Only she had found it once, but her 'boss' had turned out to be a complete wanker. Who would have thought it of him? And after all they'd been through together as well.

The alarm bleeped angrily at her 'get up, get up, get up!' in its own digital way. With a well-aimed swat she shut it up instantly and pulled back the covers.

According to her paperwork she was working for a media production company called Old Harry's Game. Weird name, but to each his own if they were prepared to be mentally associated with a comedy drama about the devil. And talking of devils, she needed to prod James awake; he was an incurable stay-in-the-bed and wouldn't get up until gone noon given half the chance. Idiot! But he was _her_ idiot and the nearest she would ever get to having a teenage son.

Chuckling to herself, she crept into his room and was struck by the sharp smell of essence of old socks as well as sweaty bloke. "James! Jamesie!" she softly called out. "Time to get up!"

"I'm getting up," someone beneath the covers mumbled.

"Yes, I know you are. The question is when?" She took hold of the edge of his duvet and peeled it away from his face. "There you are," she declared. "Who knew you still exist in the wild."

"Ha ha, very funny," he griped. "What time is it?" he asked, sitting up and wiping a hand over his sleepy features.

Donna glanced at her watch. "It's 6.20 and you have to be in early today without looking like a tramp."

"I do not look like a tramp!" he protested indignantly; but something in him wasn't convinced. "Do I?"

She laughed at him. "Just get up, shower, shave; and open a bloody window. This place reeks!"

He made an angry gesture at her, and she made an equally angry one back. "I will if you haven't used up all the hot water," he countered.

She sighed, heavily. "Just get up, you tart! You're even worse than your…" A bite on the bottom lip halted that momentary slipup. "But only sometimes," she ended her sentence, keeping her tone friendly.

James visibly flinched at the reference. "I'm nothing near to being like him," he muttered testily. Knowing she had regretted the slipup, he added, "All my bad points come from you."

It was the relief that he wasn't angry with her, and slight indignation at his tease, that made her pounce on him. "Is that why you are ticklish here…" She got him in the ribs. "…or here?" She then tickled his neck, and had him squealing beneath her fingers.

James fought to catch his breath when the onslaught faded, leaving them giggling together.

"Donna! James! What are you two up to again? Get down here now!" was shouted at them good and loud from downstairs.

James stuck his tongue out at Donna. "It's your fault she's annoyed at us."

"Oh no! This is your fault," she contradicted him. "And to think Mum always speaks so highly of you." She added in an eye roll for good measure.

He patted at his hair. "Of course she would. She has good taste like that. Well, you just have to look at me…"

"You know what your trouble is, mate? You think…," Donna began to take a piece out of him, but the voice from below shouted up again.

"I am _not_ telling you two again! Get your bums in gear and stop mucking about!" roared Sylvia from somewhere within the house.

"Your fault!" Donna sing-songed as she prodded James in the arm; and then she almost danced away in her delight that he was in trouble.

"She still loves me more," he retorted in the same way, resisting the urge to add, "ner ner dee ner ner" at the end since he was above thinking such things. Now what should he wear today? That was a much more pressing question.

* * *

Donna arrived at O.H.G. Productions in good time, with at least fifteen minutes to spare. It was quite an impressive modern building, designed by someone who obviously was influenced by the Bauhaus movement. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and stepped up to the large glass entry door. The woman sitting at the reception desk looked friendly enough; she had expected someone who was quite intimidating.

"Ms Noble? You're expected up on the second level," the receptionist said helpfully. "Here is a map of the place and I've marked off where you need to go."

Donna expressed her thanks and headed towards the room that was marked as Finance on the map. Oh good, she could deal with numbers, no problem! Not as good as James could, but then not many people could keep up with him. And a position in wages would help her meet all the blokes in the company. There must be one of them that would be interested in her, surely? A sudden thought panicked her: what if they were all young whizz kids? None of them might look in her direction. Unless she could meet their dads… Now how could she engineer that? She decided to leave that sort of planning for later, as by this point in her thoughts she had walked all the way to Finance and was faced with another office to learn the geography and politics of. Starting with the bloke sitting in the navy suit, who looked like he needed a good tease in his life, among other things.

* * *

The day went quite well, all in all. The people in the office were all the usual types, and Donna found herself inventing little nicknames for them all. Within three days Donna felt she had it all under control; she knew who did what, how they lived their lives, their hobbies, important members of their families, and what their major gripes were. Nothing out of the ordinary, no plots to overthrow the government and most of all, no sign of any aliens in any form whatsoever. Funnily enough that was the part she missed most of all. She'd enjoyed knowing she was speaking a completely different foreign language.

This thought had just passed through her head when she almost reached the exit door on the way home and someone gasped to her side. Standing in reception was an extremely well-dressed man; his suit could not have fitted him any better. Donna found herself captivated by his warm smile and his intense light brown eyes as he gazed in wonder at her.

"Excuse me, and I know this sounds like a really bad chat up line, but do I know you?" he asked her.

"I don't think we've met," Donna answered. "But you do look awfully familiar. I feel as though I ought to know who you are."

He smiled even more brightly. "Let's start again, shall we? I'm Harry," he answered, and held out his hand in invitation.

"Okay. I'm Donna," she quickly replied, taking his hand to shake, in a way that she hoped wasn't too enthusiastic or too wet.

"Lovely to meet you, Donna," he said. "Now that we've got the formalities out of the way, may I suggest that we get together and catch up on all the news we've obviously missed?"

"That sounds like a good idea. And can I have my hand back, please?" she asked him.

Harry didn't even look sheepish when he released the hold he had on her hand. "Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "Are you free for lunch tomorrow?"

Donna had no idea why she agreed to this but she found herself saying, "That would be lovely, Harry. Where and when shall we meet?"

A little voice in the back of her head told her to be careful with this one but to find out more. This would be a spy mission, and that idea cheered her up enormously. Finally she had a possible adventure in her life; her sad, normal life.


	2. 2 Telling Jack

**Part 2: Telling Jack**

.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, quite relieved to find himself on Roald Dahl Plass outside Torchwood. It was fast becoming his second home, if you didn't count London. Only he was trying not to think of London, and Chiswick in particular, because it was all still too painful.

Chiswick represented Donna, her storming out with the duplicate Doctor, and leaving him all alone without her. It took all his efforts not to break down and sob at the injustice of it. He'd planned things so that he could stop feeling guilty about Rose and leave himself set up with Donna. That entire plan had gone out the window. Instead, Donna had thrown a pink fit about a certain aspect of his plan; she had been livid that he had wanted to appease Rose by leaving the duplicate Doctor with her like a fairground prize. Rose was not a crackpot winner on a coconut shy stall, Donna had loudly pointed out, and the duplicate was not the goldfish she had won! He could see her point, but he wasn't convinced enough to change his mind.

So she had walked out of the TARDIS taking the duplicate, his carefully thought out plans, his life and his soul. He had been left bereft! And evidently the TARDIS thought he should tell Jack. Well, Jack would be sympathetic; he'd had his own fair share of difficult decisions to make in his long life.

Jack was amazed to find the Doctor sitting on the edge of the water fountain on Roald Dahl Plass looking completely stunned. "Doctor? Are you okay?" Jack anxiously asked as he knelt down.

The Doctor slowly shook his head. "She left me, Jack; she actually left me," he stammered out.

Jack looked at the TARDIS sitting majestically nearby and then back at the Doctor. "I thought Rose would never leave after fighting her way back to you," he admitted with surprise.

"Who?" The Doctor lifted his head and returned Jack's puzzled expression. He waved his hand vaguely in the air. "Not Rose! I took Rose back to the alternative universe soon after I dropped you off; but I wasn't talking about her."

Jack frowned in confusion. "Then who were you talking about?"

"Donna, of course!" the Doctor cried; and his face crumpled before he hid it behind his hands. "She took the metacrisis with her and left me."

"But… I don't understand. The way you were all acting in the TARDIS I thought things were completely different," Jack spluttered in his confusion. What on earth had happened for the Doctor to be this morose over Donna? Yes, there had been a vibe that had stopped him from hugging her in case he provoked the Doctor's wrath; but Rose had been confidently possessive, he realised, after that. Rose had hung on the Doctor, not the other way around. She had gone to him. So did that mean he had other plans the whole time, while he had intentionally kept himself back from her? It did make you wonder.

"I was pleased to see Rose, ecstatic even, but I couldn't give her what she wanted from me. I couldn't give her domesticity and a mortgage; so I was going to do the next best thing. I was going to give her my duplicate to live that life with," the Doctor explained.

Jack listened in open-mouthed fascination. He realised that must have been an awfully hard decision. "What went wrong with the plan? I'm assuming it didn't go smoothly," Jack said to encourage him to continue his explanation.

"Donna finding out is what happened," the Doctor said bitterly. "She argued with me claiming he was not just an item you pass on like a family heirloom but a living breathing part of us that deserved the chance to do what he wanted to do."

"And did he? Did he want to go with Rose?" Jack asked, already knowing the answer.

"No he did not. He refused to go back to Pete's World with Rose. He insisted that he couldn't give her what she wanted from me neither." The Doctor's expression saddened even further. "Donna told me that if I couldn't appreciate him for being who he was she certainly could. So I told her she'd better find somewhere else he'd be welcomed, and she shouted that she knew just the place. It turns out it was back in Chiswick and away from the TARDIS."

He held back a sob, and Jack didn't know what to do. He decided to keep the Doctor talking. "When exactly did she leave you?"

"After I dropped off Rose. The walls between the dimensions was closing so I had to drop her and Jackie back as fast as I could otherwise they'd be trapped. Donna and him left me to do that on my own, so it wasn't much beyond 'here is your life, have a good one' I'm ashamed to say," the Doctor answered.

"Poor Rose," Jack sighed. "To do all that to find you and then be dumped back there without you."

"She had heard us arguing, and she had a life there; a family. She had to go back," the Doctor said firmly. "I never told her Donna was packing to leave at that point. You should have seen her, Jack. Like a man-of-war battleship in full flight. She was magnificent as she tried to argue me into the ground. I've never seen anything like it."

Jack noted it was obviously a bittersweet memory the Doctor was recalling. It also had a strong emphasis on Donna rather than Rose. "What are you going to do now?" he asked.

The Doctor sagged even more. "I don't know. Carry on, on my own, I suppose. I can't face choosing someone else yet."

What should he do with a bereft Time Lord? This was Donna's job to deal with. Jack had no idea what he should do to appease the Doctor as he sat so dejectedly.

As he resolved to phone Donna at the first opportunity and use emotional blackmail if necessary, Jack tried to tempt the Doctor down into the Hub. Jack had a sudden brainwave. "Why don't you borrow my trainee for a while? It would do her good if you don't mind having a temporary companion."

The Doctor gave a wry laugh. "Another temp? I'll think about it; after all, the last temp turned out okay."

* * *

It was only after an hour or so later, having fed the Doctor copious amounts of cake washed down with numerous mugs of tea, that the atmosphere lighted considerably.

"Doctor, I'd like you to meet Catherine," Jack introduced her, taking away the Doctor's last opportunity to dip out of his decision to consider a temporary companion. Standing in front of them was the newest addition to Torchwood: Catherine McKenzie.

She stood enthusiastically before them, hope shining in her large brown eyes that the Doctor would genuinely choose her. She'd read a lot about him in the Torchwood files. It looked a really glamorous lifestyle, walking among aliens in all of time and space; so she'd jumped at the chance when Jack had suggested it to her. The fact that the Doctor wasn't bad looking for an old bloke was a contributing factor in her readily made decision. With that in mind she stood anxiously waiting for him to give the last word for this arrangement.

The Doctor sat critically examining her as he supped the last of his tea. He didn't want to be bamboozled into anything that could backfire horribly on him. Catherine was pleasant enough to look at, with Martha's height, Rose's build, and a younger sense of style. The difference was that she wore her brown hair down in a neatly cut bob that framed her face, nicely displaying her elfin features to their best advantage. It was obvious why Jack had chosen her for his team.

"Do you have much family, Catherine?" he asked her.

Why did he want to know that? "The normal," she replied. "Mum, Dad, and my sister Chloe. She's younger than me by three years."

The Doctor could tell how anxious she was as she stood before them like a specimen in a jar. He breathed an inner sigh of relief that she had a family; he didn't want her using him as a surrogate father. She looked young enough to be his daughter; she couldn't be much more than twenty two at the most. "When can you be ready to come and be my temporary companion?" he eventually asked.

"Just give me ten minutes," Catherine almost squeed in her excitement. This was turning out to be the best day of her life.

* * *

It was turning out to be one of the worst decisions of his life. Why had he allowed Jack to talk him into this? It wasn't as though the girl had no intelligence – obviously she did or Jack would never have considered her in the first place – but she didn't seem to know how to apply the knowledge that was in her head.

Knowledge like learning the simple geography of the TARDIS. Well, he thought it was simple despite what some of some of his companions had complained about over the years. Things like rooms going missing, being led down confusing corridors, or the rooms mysteriously rearranging themselves within the TARDIS. Personally he thought it helped relieve the possible boredom of the place; but he had received numerous complaints about the TARDIS.

Only one person hadn't complained, strangely enough; and that had been Donna. She had laughed with delight when the swimming pool room had been moved close to her bedroom, and had hugged him ecstatically when the Jacuzzi appeared opposite. It hadn't been changed on his orders but he had happily passed on Donna's delight to the TARDIS. After that, Donna was always giving the TARDIS little strokes of gratitude, and the TARDIS loved the attention. It had made that aspect of their lives extremely pleasant, especially as the TARDIS almost lived to please Donna from then on. Still their... oops!... her bedroom had been given a beautiful en suite with a bath tub that could have held two people, if he'd have been able to persuade Donna to take such a bath with him. But he had to stop thinking of it as their bedroom now. All that was gone and finished. He would never have her back again unfortunately.

"Doctor!" Catherine shouted, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Good grief! I have been trying to get you to answer for the last ten minutes."

"I think that's a slight exaggeration," the Doctor commented before he could help himself. "It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds."

Catherine glared at him. "I still don't know where the kitchen is and I'm starving! You promised me something decent to eat."

He led her down the corridor to where the kitchen now dutifully sat, and opened the fridge. There was nothing but milk for his tea. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Let's look in the cupboards." Reaching up he opened various wall cabinets, only to find a very meagre choice.

"Is there anything at all?" she asked frantically.

"Not much to write home about, unless you fancy tinned pears with pasta. And I have no idea why I have tinned pears in my cupboard!" he griped testily. "We'll have to go out to dinner."

"Ooh goodie!" Catherine declared at the chance to avoid cooking. "Do I need to go and get changed?"

The Doctor eyed her up and down, trying to stall her need to dress differently. "No, you look fine," he said dismissively, and headed out to the console room to set the coordinates.

"Isn't this romantic?" Catherine jokily asked him as she stepped out into the crisp night air and whirled round in delight. "You brought me to a sunset."

"Did I?" he asked vaguely in return. He hadn't intended to do that at all.

She playfully waggled a finger at him. "Anyone would think you are trying to chat me up, you naughty Time Lord!"

"I'm not; I'm really not," he answered, but she was taking no notice of his words and had practically danced away to look at the restaurant menu hanging on the wall outside.


	3. 3 Living With Cate

**Part 3: Living With Cate**

.

"What planet are we on, Doctor?" Catherine asked him breathily, her excitement all too evident.

He took a moment to examine the sky thoughtfully. "I think they call this one Earth," he replied straight-faced, expecting her to laugh at his silliness.

Alas she didn't. Instead she visibly repeated it to herself and then, finally, laughed. "It sounds just like my planet," she declared, having decided to play him at his own game.

What part of 'Earth' doesn't sound like Earth? He was beginning to seriously doubt whether she could genuinely be this dense; unless she was having him on, that could work in her favour. Opening the door to the restaurant in invitation, he gestured to her to walk in before him, and then they approached the maître d. "A table for two, please," the Doctor requested.

The maître d looked behind the Doctor before asking him, "Only two, sir? Won't your wife be joining you?"

"Oh no, she's…" He found himself gesturing in a vague direction as he answered and caught himself with a cough. "No, it's just the two of us tonight."

"Very well, sir. If you and your daughter would follow me this way," the maître d replied, and started to lead them towards a table.

He knew it! He just knew it would happen one day to this body; and it was such a crying shame. This body had had such potential too. And any moment now she would ask him the question…

"Doctor, why did you let him think I'm your daughter?" she hissed through clenched teeth at him across the table.

Yes, that was the question he had been anticipating. "Because Cate…" Her angry glare made him amend her name. "Sorry, I mean Catherine, I would rather be thought of as your father than your sugar daddy." Plus, he'd had enough of that in the past.

She huffed indignantly. "I'll have you know that I am old enough to vote, get married and have children," she pointed out.

"And all hopefully in that order," he added as a joke, and got another scowl for his troubles. Grabbing the nearest passing waiter, he asked, "Can I have the wine list, please?" It looked like it was going to be a long night.

One hundred and seventy five per cent of a bottle of wine later, the Doctor found that his mood had mellowed. The food had been good, but he wasn't so sure that he was enjoying the conversation about Powderfinger. Apparently Catherine was in raptures about them, to the extent that she was planning to name her future children after them. "You must have heard their music; they are well old," Catherine insisted as she toyed with her meal, pushing all the carrots to the edge of the plate.

He found himself wondering what she had against carrots before answering honestly, "I suppose Donna could have played some of their stuff, but I wasn't paying much attention at the time."

The scowl was back, and Catherine abandoned the pretence of trying to eat the rest of the veg on her dinner plate. "Why weren't you paying attention at the time?" she asked testily.

He took another glug of wine. "Because, my child, we were lying in bed swopping anecdotes about embarrassing teenage horror stories," he said with a smirk. "If I recall correctly, Donna won."

"She certainly did," Catherine sarcastically commented. "Exactly how serious were you two?"

"Serious?" he echoed. "Not as often as we should have been, I suppose. We had quite a laugh together, Donna and I. She knows how to crack me up everytime."

Catherine rolled her eyes at him. "No, I mean in your relationship. Just how serious was it?"

"Oh that!" he answered, trying to wave off the question. "We were pretty close; best friends and everything. Like the Dynamic Duo."

She watched warily as he poured himself out yet more wine. "Don't you think you've had enough of that stuff?"

"No," he replied, stretching out the syllable to get his full money's worth. "This wine is a piece of art all by itself. Or chemistry; that works too. And you are talking as though I've drunk too much; silly girl!"

She would have believed his protests if he hadn't suddenly veered dramatically to the left and disappeared under the table. "Are you okay?" she called out to him.

An adorable cheeky grin rose from beneath the table. "Somebody shifted gravity for a second there within my temporal space; I may know who the culprit was," he said knowingly.

Catherine couldn't help laughing at him. She wanted to laugh even more when two waiters swept up and offered to assist her father back into his chair properly. His expression had been priceless. It was soon after that she gave up the ghost on their dinner, paid the bill, and let the Doctor hang onto her arm as she guided him back into the TARDIS. In hindsight she should not have let him pilot them into the Vortex.

There was a loud, screeching sound, and then the whole TARDIS shuddered to a halt. "That's us parked," the Doctor declared, and then left her standing there as he staggered off to the library.

Catherine really didn't know what to think of him.

* * *

The Doctor woke to find Catherine regarding him intently.

"Did you know that you make a funny wheezy sound?" she asked him as he opened his eyes.

"I do not!" he immediately insisted, and regret was pretty immediate too. "What did you give me last night?"

"Me! You were guzzling it back like nobody's business," she tetchily answered him. "You were out like a drunken skunk."

"It's called alcohol-assisted slumber," he replied. "But I wasn't drunk."

"That's as true as me being your daughter," she retorted; and a wicked idea entered her head. "If you carry on in this way you won't get to play happy families with me in the future."

"Pardon?" he demanded, and winced again as pain hit him behind the eyeballs. "I am never drinking French wine again," he vowed to himself. "It's making me hear all sorts of crazy stuff."

* * *

The TARDIS was refusing to budge, point blankly; saying that she wanted to rest a couple of days after her recent upset. And, he was astonished to learn, IF he tried to repair her before she was good and ready to leave she would zap him for being an idiot.

He didn't believe this, naturally, until he tried to pull out the outon overdrive, and she zapped him painfully in the foot.

"What did you do that for?" he yelped, and then danced around the console until life returned to his offended foot and he could walk again.

The TARDIS hummed angrily in his head. Shouldn't he know a real warning by now?

"But what about the stars?" grizzled Catherine. "I was hoping to see alien planets."

"We will, eventually," promised the Doctor whilst inadvertently cursing the TARDIS.

"So where are we? Cos I'm sure you landed us somewhere last night," Catherine wondered.

The Doctor pulled the monitor towards himself to see where they were, and then blanched. If he had never felt like assaulting the TARDIS before he certainly did now.

Seeing this, Catherine rushed to his side to inevitably ask, "What is it? Where are we? Is it really that bad? Are we surrounded by zombies or post-apocalyptic giant insects?"

"What? Where do you get such ideas from?" He frowned at her. "No, there is nothing remotely like that outside. At least I don't think there is; otherwise the TARDIS would not refuse to budge. The point, my dear, is that we have landed in London."

"London," repeated Catherine. "Are we going shopping in Oxford Street or seeing the sights? I haven't been there in ages, and my friend Amy said…"

The Doctor interrupted her before she could get any further. "I have a problem, Catherine McKenzie, because I do not want to be in London right now." He then looked pointedly at her, hoping she'd get the message.

"Why's that then?" Catherine instantly asked. As far as she could remember there _was_ someone in London he might be avoiding. She decided to lighten the mood by joking, "I bet you've got a girl in every part of the City."

"Only the one," he mumbled, and Catherine strained to catch his words. "We are a fair way from the actual City. In fact the TARDIS has landed us in Chiswick."

Catherine frowned. "Chiswick? Why Chiswick? It hasn't exactly got much going for it, has it?" When the Doctor didn't answer, she then added, "Didn't you have a couple of companions who lived this way?"

"Yes," he said tightly. "According to the scanner we are completely in their way."

"What do you mean?" Catherine peered at the monitor and could make neither head nor tail of it.

The Doctor huffed resignedly and marched over to the doors. Throwing them open with a flourish, he declared, "That's what I mean."

"Oh!" Catherine could only think to respond with. Outside the sight, within half a metre, was the patio door of Sylvia Noble's house; except Catherine didn't know whose house it was yet and could only wildly guess. "Is this what they call a First Class Delivery?" she joshed. "Amazon would be impressed."

That was when the Doctor's patience snapped. "I did not want to be here. In fact I am not sure I'm even _allowed_ to be here anymore." His eyes appealed to the ceiling, as he said, "Do you want me to get another slap? She will think I'm deliberately stalking her; and she made it quite clear that she wanted no more to do with me."

He clean forgot Catherine was even standing there until she asked, "What did you do wrong?"

It was the clear concern in her voice that caught him out. "I erm… I upset her." He gulped then, unable and unwilling to continue. Instead he loudly clapped his hands. "Right then! Let's try and move the TARDIS at least a couple of feet, before Sylvia Noble forces me to regenerate, and then get her nicely hidden." Within three bounding footsteps he had closed the doors and made his way back to the console. "Come on, old girl. We don't want to break Wilf's nose when he steps out to go up the hill later."

The TARDIS grumbled in his head, but she conceded that she did not want to possibly harm Wilf. So with a lot of grunting and groaning she dragged herself sideways to a safer place.

"Good girl!" the Doctor enthused, giving the console a loving pat.

"That's a bit sick if you ask me," Catherine commented.

"Pardon?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"You doing that," Catherine said, pointing to his hand. "Are you related to that bloke who had sex with his car, or the woman who married the Berlin Wall?"

"No I am not!" he stated indignantly. "The things that come out of young women's mouths these days. Some of us appreciate our machinery."

"Yeah, there's appreciating, and there's _appreciating,_" she emphasised. "You obviously need to get yourself a woman."

"I've got a woman. I've got you!" he said testily, and then quickly rewound what just came out of his mouth when her eyebrows shot up to meet her hairline. "Oh no, no, no, no! I didn't mean like that!" he blustered.

All Catherine did was look at him thoughtfully. What was he playing at? And had he brought her here to show her off, like some new toy? It was a possible. Plus, it looked like she was going to meet this infamous Donna Noble. What was so marvellous about her after all? Time would soon tell.

Well, Catherine decided that Donna might regret throwing the Doctor away when she saw him with her. Oh yes! Donna would regret upsetting him, and Catherine would make her pig sick with jealousy if necessary to help him gain revenge. The Doctor, after all, was a pretty decent bloke that any other woman could easily fall for. Just not her personally; she liked her men to be older, but not _that_ old!


	4. 4 Back In Chiswick

**A/N: **Now back to Donna...**  
**

* * *

**Part 4: Back In Chiswick**

.

As Donna set the table for their evening meal, James remarked, "You're looking awfully pleased with yourself tonight. What did you do? Trapped a bloke into proposing again?"

She swatted him playfully on the arm before replying, "No! I'm not like that anymore. But for your information, smarty-pants, I have got a bloke interested in me."

"You have?" he asked in surprise and glee. "Do tell! What's he like? Did he sweep up in a white uniform and drag you off on a golf cart?"

"I wish! Although he did sort of sweep up to me in the foyer of the new place I'm at." Knowing she now had James' full attention, she continued, "His name is Harry, he's nearly as tall as you, with short dark blonde hair and light brown eyes. I'd say he's got a slight Manchester twange to his accent, and judging by the state of his suit he makes a fair packet a year."

"What's his inside leg measurement?" James wondered cheekily. "Surely you pulled out your tape measure to see how long, Mum." He then jumped out of the way when she swatted at him again.

"Are you two messing about at my dinner table?" Sylvia griped threateningly. "Come and make yourself useful," she aimed at James, and handed him two full dinner plates.

He turned with them and placed the plates delicately down onto their respective placemats, whilst Donna yelled to Wilf that dinner was ready. Sylvia set down the other two plates as Wilf bumbled into the room, apologising for his sleepy state. "Isn't this nice," Wilf remarked as they seated themselves. "I think more families should eat at a table together like this."

"Who doesn't then?" Sylvia asked.

"You'd be surprised," Donna answered. "A lot of people eat with their dinner on their laps."

"Does your new boyfriend like _it_ on his lap, Mum?" James asked her as innocently as he could. With barely a wince he acknowledged that 'yes' that was his foot she had just stamped on.

"What new boyfriend?" Wilf immediately asked with interest.

Donna blushed. "I'm not sure I'd call him my boyfriend yet, but he's asked me to lunch tomorrow, Gramps."

"So tell us about him," Sylvia encouraged her.

"Yeah, tell us," James teased, and hid another wince. He'd have to get her back later for prodding him in the leg.

Donna put down her knife and fork to say, "There's not much I know to tell. His name is Harry, he seems to be quite high up in the company, and he says he thinks he's met me before."

"In a nightmare," James muttered into his glass of water, and jumped when Sylvia told him off.

"James! I am warning you!" Sylvia glared at him.

"Now now, lad," Wilf added.

"Sorry," James replied meekly. "You've got to admit that is quite a lame pickup line though. He should have paid a scriptwriter to think up a better one."

"Don't be mean. Just because you are jealous," Donna retorted. "Who's to say he hasn't met me before? I'm seeing it as working in my favour."

James took in her gooey look. "You'll be telling me next he's got a lovely smile."

"He has!" Donna insisted.

"Then what's wrong with him?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said defensibly.

"You can't fool me; you think something is wrong with him, don't you?" James frowned.

"Is there something wrong?" Wilf wondered when Donna didn't instantly reply.

She fiddled with the items on her plate before stabbing a piece of meat with her fork. "I don't know what it is. There's something not quite right…"

"See! I told you," crowed James. "You're still going to get him to buy you lunch though, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," she answered. "I'm not completely daft. You never know what it might lead to."

"I'll come too if you want," James offered.

Sylvia smiled warmly at him, and Donna's resolve almost melted. "Thank you," she said, laying a grateful hand over his. "But I have to do this on my own. I'm a big girl now with a practised right hook."

Wilf proudly grinned at her. "That's my girl!"

James flicked his gaze to her right hook, giving it its due respect. "Have you been practising your knee jerk too?" he asked as he sought to reassure himself of her safety.

"Take knee and forcefully insert into groin area, if memory serves me right," she said, lifting up a knee in demonstration.

Sylvia snorted a laugh. "I'm sure Carl Wilkins remembers it all too well," she commented.

James went to ask another question, but Donna butted in to stop him. "There you go. I am perfected capable of defending myself without you being there. Would it help if I promise to call you if I ever do?"

He reluctantly nodded his agreement.

* * *

When Donna emerged from the production offices James was waiting for her. Bounding up eagerly, he immediately asked her, "How did it go? Did you enjoy your date? What did you find out?" He then stuck out his elbow in invitation.

"Give us a chance to get out of the building," Donna fondly admonished him. She wrapped her arm around his, and caressed his forearm with her other hand when she saw his keen expression fall. "I'll tell you, don't worry; but not here."

"Do you think someone is listening in?" James asked when he saw her attention assess the nearness of other people.

"I'd bet money on it," Donna answered. "He comes across as the sort that doesn't trust anyone at first. Perhaps all rich men are like that?"

"It's a common trait," James agreed, "especially amongst the megalomaniacs we used to meet."

Donna gasped as he mentioned their past life; a topic they had been actively avoiding.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and tried to turn his face away from her.

"James," Donna said softly; and brought a hand up to place on his chin and guide him back to look directly at her. "It's okay to talk about our life together. Don't you think it's about time we stop pretending it was embarrassing?"

"But Mum, you gave it up for me," he stammered.

"No, I gave it up for us," she contradicted. "There was no way I'd sacrifice both of us like that, so stop feeling guilty."

James gave her a wan smile. "I'm trying to, honest I am."

"Come here, you prawn," she softly ordered, releasing his arm to wrap herself around him in a hug.

High above them a CCTV camera zoomed out from them, and the person watching it on a monitor made careful notes. The person watching was Harry and he was very intrigued by Donna Noble and her toy boy. Both of them had a familiar smell that was neither entirely human nor quite Time Lord. He knew for certain where he had encountered Donna before; it had been during 'the year that never was'. During one particular month of that time he'd delighted in killing her, among other things, in front of the Doctor onboard the Valiant.

These two, however, smelt differently despite looking exactly the same. If he didn't know any better he would suspect… No! They couldn't, could they? These two made him suspect a metacrisis, but such things were nigh on impossible. Harry decided he would investigate this further.

* * *

The Doctor sniffed as he stood outside the TARDIS and almost stumbled in his shock. There was a Time Lord about! But there wasn't any other Time Lords now; unless someone had come back from the dead. Lifting his head, he took in more than a lungful of air, letting the aroma hit his palate, then he was off running towards wherever the scent came from.

"Doctor! Where are you going?" Catherine shouted out; but he wasn't paying her any attention. Huffing indignantly, she sped after him as fast as her legs would carry her, which wasn't exactly that far considering she had almost landed on her face after tripping up.

Eventually the Doctor thought to look behind him, and was surprised not to see his latest companion there. Where was she? And why hadn't she caught up? All his recent companions had had no trouble doing so. Okay, that wasn't strictly true because he could think of a few instances when they hadn't; but on the whole they had.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked Catherine when he eventually found her practically hanging onto an iron railing fence. "You're missing all the fun!"

Catherine was still in pain, but her glare was working with full force. "You try running after hurting your foot," she griped.

At the word 'foot' the Doctor looked down. As he did so he commented, "You need to get yourself a pair of decent trainers like Donna did, and trousers that will cover you properly. Those look as though they belong to your little sister. I can show you were Donna buys most of her clothing if you like."

"No thank you," Catherine answered tritely. Cheek! "I can choose my own stuff without any help from Donna or anyone else."

"I beg to differ," the Doctor remarked without being aware how hurtful that might be.

"Thought you would," Catherine mumbled sulkily. "Why are we running? You haven't explained."

"Haven't I?" the Doctor queried vaguely. "I suppose I should. Come on then; this way!" he called out, and started running again.

Catherine decided that it was times like this that made her hate being his temporary companion. She caught up with him as he stood sniffing the air like a bloodhound outside the revolving door of a large building. The words 'O H G Productions' adorned the side panel of the building in front of them.

"Hmm," the Doctor muttered after a minute or so. "Thought so." He then stepped forward and entered the building with a bemused Catherine trailing behind him.

She stood in the foyer looking at all the images of famous TV celebrities that were spread all over the wall behind the reception desk. When she had agreed to this she had been hoping to meet an alien or two; but she was willing in that moment to meet any one of the people whose photo was looking down at her at various jaunty angles.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked her, when Catherine stood agog for several moments.

She immediately went to splutter an explanation for standing there like a lemon. "Oh, I'm with the…" Catherine's voice trailed off as she swivelled her head around and found that the Doctor had scarpered, leaving her on her own yet again. Did he always do this? It would explain why his companions never stayed for very long.

"Your dad went that away," the receptionist said, pointing down the corridor to her right helpfully. "Does your mum work here? You look awfully familiar."

"I erm… yes!" Catherine answered, heading towards the inner foyer doors. "This way then." She ran after the Doctor before the receptionist could ask another question or she could lose sight of where he might have gone.

* * *

Donna gazed with interest at the number displayed on her mobile phone. Wasn't that a Cardiff number? Who on earth did she know in Cardiff? With some trepidation she hit the 'answer' button, and enquired, "Hello."

"Donna! Great to hear your voice again!" the male voice trilled on the other end of the line.

"Who is this?" she demanded to know.

There was a burst of laughter. "Surely you can't have forgotten Captain Jack Harkness," he admonished her.

"Jack? Jack!" Donna caught the right memory. "Blimey! I didn't even know you had this number. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Jack replied, and then gave a nervous cough. "I'm phoning to talk to you about the Doctor."

"Oh no!" Donna gasped. "What has he done? Has he injured himself? How bad is it?" she asked, steeling herself to hear the worse.

Secretly Jack was extremely pleased with her show of concern for the Doctor's wellbeing; it meant that she still cared a great deal despite what the Doctor had told him. "The thing is, Donna, he showed up here yesterday and he was in a bad way."

She clasped a hand over her mouth, ready to cry if necessary. "Was there much blood? He hates it when he bleeds. I remember this one time on…"

"Donna!" Jack interrupted her. "He wasn't bleeding, but he did have a broken heart over you leaving the TARDIS."

"Oh, that!" Donna snapped. "I gave him a choice and he didn't take it, Jack. I wasn't going to let James be dumped willy-nilly on some guilty whim."

"Who's James? Is he the metacrisis? Anyway, my point is that the Doctor needs you, Donna," Jack informed her.

She pressed her thumb and index finger onto the bridge of her nose in thought. "I'm sorry, Jack, but that isn't my job anymore," she said sadly. "I was only temporary." There followed a few moments of silence and then the line went dead.


	5. 5 Old Friends

**A/N:** Now one of the meetings you might have anticipated!

* * *

**Part 5: Old Friends**

.

Jack heard the silent line and knew immediately that someone had cut them off at Donna's end. This didn't bode well and he started to plan his journey to London.

Donna stood shocked for a while just looking at the phone in her hand. How on earth was she supposed to take that call from Jack? The Doctor probably did need her to comfort him; she had done so many a time during her stay onboard the TARDIS. In fact she had poured her heart and soul into being the best friend she could ever be for him; but it hadn't been enough. Whatever she did it was never enough. All she knew now was that James needed her to guide and comfort him in his life as a human, or pseudo-human. She wasn't quite sure what species to call him; but that wasn't important. James was hers to look after, to love and nurture as a member of her family. Okay, he looked nothing like her, but he existed because of her actions and shared her DNA. Her own little Professor Brainstorm; or should that be 'tall' because there was no way he could be described as being small unless you were talking about his waist measurement. Everything else about him was large, especially his appetite for food and life.

With him in mind, she scrolled down her contacts list and pressed the option to use his number. "Hello, James," she said as someone answered on the other end. "Guess who I have just had call me up out of the blue. Only Captain Jack Harkness! …Yes, I know! It was a total shocker… What did he want? He phoned to tell me that the Doctor was in a bad way when he saw him yesterday... Apparently so. Said he was heartbroken I had left…. No, there was no mention of you. Sorry, love... Well, I told Jack the truth; that it wasn't my job anymore to look after him... Yes, of course I'm upset about it; and no, I have no intention of tootling off and leaving you… I said I wouldn't and I won't! …Yeah, same to you, you tart! I've got to love you and leave you. See you later, and don't forget that we're going to the pictures tonight. Love you! Bye!" With that she hung up and quickly checked to see if anyone was paying attention to her sneaking a personal phone call. Fortunately no one was showing any sign of even noticing.

She almost shrieked when Harry suddenly appeared standing in front of her. "What are you playing at? Trying to give me a heart attack?" she cried out before she could help herself.

But all Harry did was smirk at her. "Why would I want to do that, Donna? No, I thought I would come and see you while I have a spare moment and check that everything is okay for tonight. Is it okay?" he asked at the end, giving her mobile phone a meaningful glance.

Donna caught where he was looking. "Oh that! Yes, I was just checking up and James can make it tonight, no problem. In fact he's quite excited about meeting you and everything," she deliberately enthused.

Harry stepped nearer. "And what about you, Donna? Are you excited about our evening?" he near whispered.

"Erm.. I suppose I am." Seeing his expression, she slightly amended it to, "It's not exactly an intimate date if I'm dragging family along, but I can't wait for you to meet each other."

"Good," he said. "Until tonight then, my sweet." Harry stepped away, waving a small 'bye' to her as he walked out of the office and from her sight.

Donna was musing how keen he seemed when her peripheral vision caught something brown and blurry. "No!" she gasped as she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Hello, Donna," the Doctor greeted her as he stood as large as life in front of her desk. "Fancy seeing you here. Are you… erm… have you gone back to temping?"

"I never left," she said drily. "Is this business or is it a social visit?"

He nervously scratched the back of his neck, and she instantly knew he wasn't there for her benefit. "Well, the thing is… I sort of smelt something strong…"

"Are you saying I smell bad?" she nearly shouted in her anger and disappointment. "Thank you very much! If you could kindly bugger off and leave me alone I'd be very grateful."

He waved his hands about apologetically. "No, no, no, no! I wasn't saying I smelt you per se; although I obviously did. No, I meant that I was following a lead."

"That led to a dog no doubt," she sneered at him as she waited for the rest of the insult she expected. It came soon enough when she spotted the girl hovering in the background. "I see you picked yourself up another piece of crumpet. Didn't take you long, as usual. I must have held you back like nobody's business in that respect."

"What?" he exclaimed, and swivelled round to catch sight of Catherine behind him. "Oh this! This is Catherine McKenzie who is on loan from Torchwood. Catherine, this is Donna Noble, my former companion."

Catherine deliberately held up her hand and as nonchalantly as possible declared, "Yo!"

"Yo?" Donna mouthed in amazement at the Doctor, pouring as much scorn as she could into it. "Nice to meet you, Catherine. You are exactly what I expected."

Catherine visibly bristled at this, and stepped forward menacingly without realising it. Donna, however, was unaffected by such behaviour and carried on regarding the Doctor, hoping her silence would both worry and encourage him to explain his presence.

"How have you been?" he eventually asked.

"We're fine," she answered. "That's James and me, by the way," she remarked to Catherine. "Has he mentioned his son to you?"

"No!" Catherine spluttered in surprise. "He's spoken of you but nothing about a son."

"You talked about me?" Donna shot at the Doctor, wondering what he had said and delighted that he had bothered to bring the subject up.

He sheepishly averted his gaze. "I might have made the odd reference, here and there," he replied whilst ignoring Catherine's disbelieving scoff. "Anyway, I'm not here to chitchat. Instead I wanted to ask who was standing here before I arrived."

"Sorry, I didn't think to keep a complete log. I'm sure the security cameras can provide you with all the information you need," she answered sarcastically. For some reason all she could feel was angry at him, although she wasn't admitting why exactly.

"The last person would be plenty of information," he said testily.

"In that case ask away," she encouraged vaguely.

He glared at her. "I just did."

"No, you said you wanted to ask; you didn't actually do so," she pointed out.

"Why do you have to be so obtuse?" he demanded.

"Probably the same reason you don't give a sh… stuff," she deflected at the last moment, suddenly remembering where she was. "If you must know it was one of the bosses here," she reluctantly supplied. "His name is Harry. Harry Saxon." Seeing the Doctor's shocked expression, she quickly asked him, "What? What's wrong? Is that bad? Do you know him? Tell me, please, Spaceman!"

Feeling the joint scrutiny of the two women, the Doctor muttered, "Yes, I've heard of him; if it's the same person." He then sniffed the air and declared, "It's more than likely the same person."

"Should I be worried about him?" Donna anxiously asked. "We're supposed to be meeting him tonight."

"You are?" There was a certain gleam in his eye that had Donna extra worried.

"Oh no you don't! You are not inviting yourself along too," she warned him.

"As if I would," he answered.

But Donna wasn't fooled by his innocent demise as he raced off. Her family date was suddenly looking a bit too heavy on the 'family' and light on the 'date' aspect. She bit at her fingernail as she considered how James and Harry were going to take this news.

* * *

"What did you invite him along for?" James sulkily asked her when she explained the possible likelihood of the Doctor turning up later.

"I didn't," she insisted. "But you know what he is like for tagging along." She indicated that he sit on her bed and then picked up a dry towel to tackle his damp hair with. There hadn't been much time to discuss her meeting since they'd got home and James had dived into the shower.

"What about her? Will the new woman be there too?" he wondered.

"Her name is Catherine," Donna repeated from earlier. "And I suspect so. He tends to take his latest companion everywhere with him."

James scowled at her from beneath a wet towel. "Doesn't mean I have to talk to her though. What is it about Harry that you're not telling me? Why is Dad so interested in him? I can only think of one Harry… Mum! You didn't?"

"Didn't what?" she asked innocently.

"Is his name Harry Saxon? Please tell me it isn't," he pleaded.

"Okay, I'll say it; but it won't be true," she answered him. "For the love of Pete, what is wrong with Harry? Will somebody tell me?"

James gripped her arms to focus her attention. "The Master is very bad news," he informed her.

"And who's he when he is at home? Is this another of your father's dubious friends from the past? Because he seriously needs to fill out an information card or two for his companions, if not a crib sheet," she complained.

"Mum, get your brain in gear! I'm talking about the Master from the Valiant," he stressed.

"Oh my God!" Donna exclaimed. "But he died! The Doctor said he died in his arms from a gunshot wound. He can't suddenly turn up like a bloody zombie or else they'd all be at it. I mean if that was possible your sister would walk through the door and I have a feeling she won't."

"It's alright," James said as he wrapped her in a comforting hug. "I've probably got the wrong Harry Saxon in mind. As you say, if he could magically come back to life then so could Jenny." He added in an extra squeeze at that point. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay, love. You've done nothing wrong except care about me." She then surreptitiously wiped away a tear. "I'll tell you what, by hook or by crook we'll have a good time tonight, and you are the best son in the universe." She giggled when he blushed modestly. "And don't forget that I know because I was there when you rescued it."

* * *

They had just stepped outside the front door when the Doctor appeared in front of them. "Dad!" James cried out in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello Donna and James, I've come to…" he began to explain, but Donna grasped James' hand firmly and barged passed him.

"Sorry, Doctor, but we have an evening arranged that doesn't include you," she threw at him without a backwards glance. "Why don't you come back later and see us?"

"Donna, we have to talk!" he shouted out to her, finding his temper rising as she climbed into her mother's car and started the engine.

All he got in reply was them briefing waving at him before they sped off; leaving him standing there dejectedly. He _had_ to stop her meeting the Master and becoming part of his latest plan.

* * *

James glanced behind them in the car. "What do you think that was all about?" he wondered. "He looked pretty desperate."

"He always looks desperate. You're just not used to being the other side of his face," Donna answered. She then anxiously considered herself in the rearview mirror. "Do I look okay?"

He grinned across at her. "Yes, you look lovely. Harry knew what he was doing when he asked you out."

She batted at him feebly. "Give over, you smooth talking git! I want an honest answer."

He held a hand against his chest as though he was deeply wounded. "And you don't think I would say if you looked like the backend of a bus? Come off it! I said you are lovely and I meant it."

She shot him a relieved smile. "Thanks. I just might keep you after all. Now, are you worried about tonight in any way?"

"No," he quickly answered. "But you do know he's placed a homing device on the car?"

She nodded her agreement.


	6. 6 On The Pull

**A/N:** I suddenly decided to extend a scene so there might be mistakes in here.

* * *

**Part 6: On The Pull**

.

Harry swished forward to greet Donna and her son as soon as he spied them. It was easy to make out Donna entering the cinema complex through the crowd of people; and he congratulated himself on choosing someone with such distinctive hair.

"Mum! It's him!" James frantically whispered, horror-struck by the man bearing down on them.

"Just try and act as if he's normal," she warned before plastering on a welcoming smile.

"Donna! And this must be your James," Harry said pleasantly as he kissed Donna on the cheek and stuck out his hand for James to shake.

If James had not been half expecting the man standing before him he would been freaked out by his appearance. "Nice to meet you, Harry," he forced himself to say politely.

Harry narrowed his eyes at James shiftily. "You look just like someone I used to know."

"Do you greet everyone with that line?" Donna teased him. She then held onto James' arm proudly and said, "As long as you say he is as good-looking as me we'll be fine."

That wasn't the answer Harry had been expecting, so he smiled and said, "Of course! Shall we go and treat ourselves to some food? I'm paying." He then led them through to where the food was on sale, and allowed James to order as much as he liked.

Now that he had smelt James close up he was certain the boy was part Time Lord. This could be amusing! Especially if it entailed the Doctor in some way; and judging by James' scent the Doctor was heavily involved. When he caught James eyeing him suspiciously, he smiled his sweetest smile back. It wouldn't do to alienate the boy, not yet anyway. He hadn't had his fun yet.

With a glance at his watch, he remarked, "Shall we go and take our seats? The show will start in a moment."

James really hoped the film was worth sitting so close to such a piece of slime; and for one awful moment he thought he was going to have to actually sit next to Harry, but Donna manoeuvred him into the seat on the other side of her. She took his hand as she faintly whispered, "Keep me safe, won't you?"

"Of course," he whispered back, and gave her hand an encouraging squeeze.

Donna then went on to make idle chitchat about the quality of the seats Harry had bought them, how grand the cinema was, how much she was looking forward to the film; anything to fill the silence before the adverts started. Harry merely grinned back at her as though she was highly entertaining; but she wondered if he was the cat that had got the cream or a cat that had caught a mouse.

It was as the advert for some well-known brand of soft drink ended that Donna heard a familiar cough from behind. Surely he hadn't? Using a movement that she hoped against hope covered her curiosity; she swivelled in her seat to glance towards the sound. Looking at her from two rows back was the Doctor and Catherine.

"Oh no!" she muttered; although a part of her was secretly pleased.

Both Harry and James turned instantly to see what had caused her reaction, with differing results.

"Hello!" The Doctor waved at them with a small hand gesture.

"What are you doing here?" she hoarsely demanded.

"Watching a film; same as you," he answered nonchalantly.

She wanted to thump him one in that second. "I am so sorry, Harry. If I'd had known he was going to follow me in here I'd have crippled him before I left home," she quietly apologised.

Harry patted her hand fondly. "Don't worry. I seem to bring out the extreme in people. We'll just sit here as a family and pretend he isn't there." That should rile the Doctor up, he decided.

The Doctor sat there seething! How dare he drool all over Donna in that affected way. And 'family'? Since when could the Master lay claim to owning any family? He stood up and stepped nimbly over the seat in front of him until he was directly seated behind Donna.

'Now he's gone and done it!' Donna worried. 'Next thing we'll know is the Master will order us all to stand in front of a firing squad.'

"Should be a good film," the Doctor commented as he leant forward.

"Yes," Donna hissed back without looking at him. Would it look better for them all if she feigned disinterest? And could he for once _not_ wear that type of aftershave, for goodness sake? He knew she liked it.

"You'll love the bit with the wet curtain. It's a classic," he continued.

Donna turned and scowled at him. "Stop it! You're doing it again. Why do you love spoiling films so much for me?"

"Sorry," he said, and sat back; but she wasn't convinced he was sorry in the slightest.

James was intrigued with the vibes Donna was giving off as he continued to hold onto her. He'd known she was angry with his father, had often felt her scorn and disappointment, but this was a new one. He had expected a level of anxiety but this latest appearance of his father had provoked concern of a different sort, as if she… Ooh, this could prove to be interesting; or something to blackmail her with when they got out of there!

The next hour was very uncomfortable for Donna. She had Harry pawing at her hand, to the point that she wanted rip it away and demonstrate what else her hand did, she had James on the other side trying to hold in his giggles whilst grasping her other hand in comfort, and the Doctor was literally breathing down her neck. She could feel his eyes boring into every movement Harry carried out, making her defiant and guilty about his actions. Although why she should be guilty was puzzling. It wasn't as though she was cheating on him or anything.

She could feel her anger at the situation rising, and her need to escape was rising incrementally too. When the Doctor placed his cool hands on her shoulders she almost screamed the cinema down. Fortunately he had chosen a scary moment to do it, so she could cover her reaction. Well, everyone else in the cinema was fooled, but she knew James and possibly Harry weren't.

Thankfully the film ended and other people began to stand up and leave the screening room. The five of them sat there until everybody else had left before they stood and angry words were exchanged.

Harry faced the Doctor and impatiently questioned, "What is your problem? You seem to think you have some sort of prior claim on Donna."

"Don't play the innocent with me, Master," the Doctor bit back.

"Master? Is he really the Master?" Donna wondered in pretend confusion. "James, is this right?"

James quietly confirmed, "Yes Mum."

"My name is Harry Saxon, not Master," Harry insisted tetchily. "Is this some sort of wind up?"

"Oh I think you know all too well how serious this is," the Doctor sternly replied.

"So you're only concerned about him and not us?" Donna sought to qualify from the Doctor.

"Well…" The Doctor scratched his neck and Donna moved angrily away from the pair of them.

That was it, was it? The Doctor wasn't worried about Harry muscling on her and steeling James away; it was all about dealing with the Master again. So much for being pleased to see him turn up to rescue them! They could have just been anybody as far as the Doctor was concerned; although he wasn't doing much to protect Catherine, now she thought about it. "Come on, James. Apparently this has got nothing to do with us, and all to do with these two posing," she told him as she started to drag him with her along the row of seats and away from Harry.

"Donna!" Harry called out to her. "We're supposed to be on a date!"

"Yeah I got that message when you were aiming everything you said at him rather than me," she yelled back at him. "I hope you are both very happy together." Then as an afterthought as she walked out through the doors, she politely shouted out, "Nice seeing you again, Catherine!"

"And you!" Catherine called back. She then shrugged at the Doctor. Well, she didn't know what she was supposed to do in such a situation. All they'd done so far was ignore her and make her sit through a boring film. It would be nice to have proper instructions for a change.

"How did you do it? How did you come back?" the Doctor turned and asked Harry. "And why now?"

"As if I'd tell you that, Doctor," Harry replied gleefully. "You love to work out puzzles and I've just provided you with a very nice one to work with. Now if you would excuse me I have a table booked for my new family."

"They are not your family," the Doctor said through gritted teeth.

"Really? Evidently they are not your family anymore!" Harry pointed out tactlessly. "Oh dear. You must be so upset to lose them. How remiss of you." He calmly picked up his coat and began to stride out of the cinema.

"Why are you letting him go?" Catherine asked the Doctor as she joined him.

"I have no other choice at the moment," he replied, but he was also deep in thought as he considered the Master's words.

There was a loud slam and then Jack appeared running down the aisle. "Jack!" Catherine cried out in relief. "Thank goodness you're here!"

"Hello boys and girls! What happened? I got here as fast as I could," he called out. "I had an idea there's been some trouble."

The Doctor knew Jack would not welcome his information at all. "The Master is back; and he's after Donna and my son," he stated.

Jack felt his blood run cold.

* * *

As soon as they had got home Donna dissolved into tears. "I'm so sorry, James. I didn't mean to put you in danger like that. How stupid am I to think some bloke would be interested in me when his aim was your father all the time…?"

James pulled her into his comforting embrace. "It's okay, Mum. You got me out of there and away from that scumbag, and I must say that I'm very glad you did! Although if he turns up here it would be fun to see Nan wipe the floor clean with him," he said to gain a smile.

"That's true," Donna agreed as she wiped her eyes. "Almost worth the visit." But her brief smile faded when she pondered anxiously, "What about your dad? I've left the Doctor to face the Master on his own, and that isn't good. Do you think I should go back?"

"No, Mum," James said firmly. "He feels better knowing you're not there."

"You can feel him? I forget… sorry. Of course you'd have a link with him, being all cleverly Time Lord and such. Is he alright? Has he been hurt?" she asked.

James wanted to chuckle at her concern. If his dad only knew he'd be beside himself with delight. "He's fine, Mum; honest he is. I can only assume the Master has buggered off to his secret lair for the time being. I do know what you could do though. How about giving Jack a call?"

Donna beamed in relief. "Great idea! I'll phone him right away."

* * *

Jack was sitting discussing tactics with the Doctor when his phone went off. Not many people had his number; he was more than secretive with it. Pulling out the mobile phone from an inner pocket he viewed the caller and exclaimed in shock, "It's Donna!"

"Donna? Let me…" the Doctor started to request, but Jack shushed him and answered it.

"Hello Donna. What can I do for you?" he said into the microphone. After some moments he told her, "Don't worry, I have things in hand. And no I wasn't talking in that respect… Play your cards right and I'll be there in no time, so be ready for me… Can't wait to see you too; and did you say 'son'? …Okay, will do. Bye!" He then turned his inquisitive gaze onto the Doctor to ask, "What's this about you two having a son? When did that become official?"

"Metacrisis, Jack. Does that ring any bells?" the Doctor replied. "It caused a retro-regeneration within his unstable cells."

As Jack nodded knowingly Catherine asked a pertinent, "What? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, Catherine McKenzie, that I became the father of a son when Donna touched my hand," the Doctor almost explained. "Talking of whom, what did she have to say, Jack?"

Jack tried to hide a smug smile. "I think you need to desperately go and see her, Doctor, and talk to her as soon as possible."


	7. 7 Making Amends

**A/N:** This contains a reference to the very beginning of this tale, and a nudge in the right direction.

* * *

**Part 7: Making Amends**

.

"You want to what?" Donna asked the Doctor as he stood on her front doorstep. "Are you serious?"

The Doctor shuffled uncertainly, wondering why he had allowed Jack to talk him into this confrontation. "I am being very serious, Donna. This evening has made me realise that we need to go and talk properly about James. Somewhere quiet would be nice, and then we can thrash out some sort of system with dealing with this," he insisted.

"Now I've heard everything," she replied sarcastically. "And where will James be while we are doing all this?"

He nervously bounced up and down on his toes. "I thought he could spend some time with Catherine and get to know her."

"Why? Are you planning on arranging some sort of marriage between them?" she asked.

"Marriage?" he spluttered. "I've had nothing but accusations of being her father and now you start insinuating that I act like one! No, I just thought they are of a similar age, visually, and they might get on okay."

"Yeah, alright, I'll believe you; thousands wouldn't," she commented. "I will expect you to actually spend some time with him in the near future, you know."

"I know," he agreed. "So can we have this date?" Seeing her shocked reaction he quickly amended it to, "I mean a date that's not a date, obviously…"

"Obviously. When were you thinking?" she asked.

"Erm.. now?" he offered.

"I'll get me coat," she answered, and disappeared inside to warn James.

* * *

Ten minutes later James found himself sitting next to Catherine on Sylvia's sofa wondering how the heck he had gotten into such a situation. "So…," he began, and idly swivelled his foot. "How long have you been travelling with the Doctor?"

"Just a few days," Catherine answered, and then silenced reigned again.

"Did you know I'm his son?" he tried asking.

"Oh yes," she said, and went back to examining her fingernails.

"Been anywhere exciting yet?" he tried one more time.

"Not really," she replied. "So far I've been to a restaurant, an office block and a cinema."

"Office blocks can be exciting," he supplied. "It all depends on what is lurking inside them."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Well, we've encountered Adipose babies, Daleks, Cybermen, the Ood, and a Lazarus machine to name just a few," he answered. "Most ideas start in an office."

"You look at stuff in a weird way," she told him.

"Thank you," he said, as if it were truly a compliment. "I've grown to like weird."

"Is your taste in music just as weird," she wondered. "You've already proved yourself with the clothing."

James was taken aback. "What's wrong with my clothing?" he demanded, holding a protective hand over his chest. "Mum helped me pick out this, and I think it looks rather distinguished. And my taste in music is eclectic." He then swiped off some invisible lint off his jacket with a defiant air. His clothing may not be a proper suit like his father wore, but it all matched, right down to his underwear.

Catherine frowned at him in confusion. "Prove it," she eventually said. "For all I know it could be a bunch of Mantovani and Richard Clayderman CDs."

"You take that back!" he said with a gasp, and pulled himself up to stand, looming over her. "Come and see if you don't believe me. I have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Not even a Steps album?" she asked.

He shook his head fervently. "Follow me and find out," he dared her, walking backwards towards the door.

Catherine instantly stood and trailed after him, inquisitive to see what this bloke owned. As he opened his bedroom door she was overwhelmed by the neatness of the room. "Blimey! This looks nothing like the Doctor's!"

"How do you know?" he asked

Catherine shrugged her shoulders. "I peeked," she offered as explanation. "It was a mess; but this is so…" She twirled around to get a good look. "It's amazing," she commented. Before her were shelves stacked immaculately with CDs, DVDs and books, in a way that was equally aesthetic as it was ordered.

James blushed with delight. "It seems I take after Mum in some ways after all."

"All I know is that your dad goes on about her an awful lot," Catherine remarked as she bent down to examine his music collection. "Oooh, I like them!"

James shuffled uncomfortably. "What do you mean he goes on about her? Does he say bad things?"

Catherine stood up straight again to gain eye contact. "Oh no! He never says anything bad. In fact he drags her into the conversation at every available opportunity. Whoever takes over from me will be pig sick of her within two days if not before." Seeing his curious expression she added, "I'm just a temporary measure. I go back to work with Jack soon."

Not wanting to wander off on that tangent, James asked cautiously, "Is Dad missing her then?"

"God yes!" Catherine said with great feeling. "He's always going off in a brown study to reminisce."

"And what about me? Does he ever mention…?" James pushed. "No, of course he wouldn't. He never told any of his friends about my sister, so why would he bring me up," he said bitterly.

She tenderly touched his arm then. "What about your sister? What happened to her?"

"He never told them Jenny existed let alone that she… Sorry, I shouldn't be dragging her up, but we were talking about her earlier and…" He vainly tried to sniff away a manly tear without her noticing.

"Let's sit down," she said softly, lowering herself onto the edge of his bed and patting the space beside her in invitation. "You can tell me if you want."

"Thanks for the offer," he politely answered as he seated himself beside her.

"I don't know anything about you," she confessed. "I don't know how old you are, what you do, why you left the TARDIS; nothing."

He wriggled nervously and tried to think clearly about the facts they had decided to tell. "Then perhaps I ought to introduce myself? Hello, I'm James Noble… and don't call me 'Jim'' I hate being called that. I'm nineteen, almost twenty, am at Kings College, and I live with my mum because my dad can be a completely thoughtless berk!"

Catherine was smiling in amusement until the last bit. "I've just turned twenty although some people say I look older, called Catherine McKenzie, and am a trainee at Torchwood on loan to the Doctor. What did he do to you?"

"He… erm… he tried to arrange a marriage for me with a girl who is madly in love with someone else; but it's more than that. I wasn't asked about it, and he was going to dump me on her parents and just leave me there. Mum went absolutely ape when she found out," he said with a grimace. "I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't rescued me. Probably be in some alien zoo or something by now, labelled as an ugly git."

"That's terrible," she sympathised. "Is that what happened to your sister? Did she get married off?"

"No. She died a few months ago," he replied quietly. "Some despot shot her."

Catherine covered her mouth as she gasped in horror. This information hadn't been in the Torchwood file; and she instantly wondered why. She placed a comforting hand on his knee. "I am so sorry."

"Thanks," he said. He didn't know what to say beyond that; but Catherine's thumb was gently caressing his thigh, totally distracting him. He regarded her hand's progress and swallowed self-consciously at the effect it had on him.

His glance caught her attention. "Oh! Am I stepping on toes here? Will your girlfriend come and threaten me later?" she pondered, pulling her hand hastily away. "I'm really sorry if that's the case."

James' brow furrowed in confusion. "I haven't got a girlfriend," he immediately supplied. "And you completely avoided my toes."

She looked down at his feet and laughed. "You are funny!" Then she coyly added, "For the record, you're also quite good looking."

"Do you think so?" He felt himself blush, and he hesitantly pushed some hair out of his eyes. As he lifted his head to risk a glance her way he was shocked to find her pressed close to him. There was a strange taste in the air that she was evidently exuding. A smack of the tongue against his palate told him she was releasing pheromones in his direction.

"Yes. What do you think of me?" she softly asked, pushing herself forward even further.

"I erm… well, I…," he stammered self-consciously.

"Thought so," she said with a smirk; and then her lips were on his.

It seemed quite logical to let her push him backwards onto the bed as she remained attached to his mouth. Kissing her back seemed logical too in the circumstances. Well, his mum _had_ told him to grab every opportunity in life…

* * *

It seemed really strange to walk along the street beside the Doctor again. Donna shot him a sideways glance and found him watching her before he was caught doing so and averted his gaze like a naughty schoolboy. And then he smiled in amusement.

"What? Did I do something wrong?" she immediately asked him.

"No, nothing wrong," he declared, knowing she was suffering from self-doubts again. "It's just nice to be 'us' when it hasn't been 'us' for some time."

"You say that as if you've missed me terribly," she commented. "And I know that's not true."

He suddenly stopped walking and grasped her hand, forcing her to look at him. "Donna, before we go any further I want you to know that I have genuinely missed you, despite anything that might seem to suggest otherwise," he said sincerely. "It just hasn't been the same without you."

She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Are you saying that because you don't like sleeping alone?"

"I erm… I must admit that is part of the problem," he confessed.

"Thought so!" she trilled. "You never could stand sleeping too far away from me."

"And what about you? Have you missed sleeping with me?" he asked patiently.

Ooh, he got her with that one! "I got used to you being there, I'll admit that; so I…" She then gave herself away by blushing.

He laughed with delight. "What did you do, Donna? You didn't drag poor James into your bed, did you?"

"No! Don't be daft! Although it did run through my head when we first turned up at Mum's. Can you imagine my mum allowing anything remotely like that happening?" She laughed too.

He drew her nearer. "I'd rather not go with that thought if it's all the same to you. She'd kill me if she knew how many times we shared a bed."

"Not that we did anything," Donna hastily put in.

"We were the proverbial monks," he agreed as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "So are you going to tell me what you did to make up for losing me from your bed?"

"Alright! You'll never leave me alone unless I tell I suppose," she said with a resigned sigh. "I can't believe I'm telling you this, but I bought a teddy bear. A large green teddy bear."

"Green? Why green of all colours?" he demanded to know.

"Because I couldn't find a large Martian," she mumbled.

His laughter roared out as he hugged her to his chest in his amusement. "Donna Noble, you are just…!" He couldn't resist placing a hand on one of her cheeks and kissing her on the other. That's when he realised he was close; too close to resist something else if he wasn't careful. With a nervous gulp he stammered out, "Do you erm think we should erm…"

Her eyes were deep pools of concern that he wanted to dive into and spend the rest of his lives there. A man of any species could never tire of such a gaze given half a chance. Everything about her seem to say 'I am yours to love and cherish' as she stripped him to his very soul. And then her brow furrowed ever so slightly, and he was pulled out of his musings.

"…Yes we need to talk," he finished saying. "Now where would be best?"

"I don't know about you but I'm starving," she admitted. "I missed out on a posh dinner earlier, so I think the most you could do is feed me."

"Really?" He happily beamed at her. "Then let's go and get ourselves something to eat!" He offered her his arm and they almost bounced off to find some food.


	8. 8 Rude Awakings

******A/N2:** The quote is from Shakespeare's sonnet number 18, btw.

* * *

**Part 8: Rude Awakenings**

.

"Classy," Donna remarked as they sat down. "It was totally worth getting this dressed up."

"Only the best for you," the Doctor replied. "Now do you want any mayonnaise on your chips?"

"Bring it on, Spaceman," she encouraged him. Thank goodness she had remembered the café that the taxi drivers tended to use at that time of night. The food was good, and the place was popular at any time of day; but they managed to find themselves a table to sit at.

"This is what I love about you," he enthused once he had finished eating. "You always know somewhere to go," he added as he tried to nick one of her remaining chips and she protested at his impudence.

"Do you want my other sausage?" she asked him. "I'm a bit full."

He willingly speared the sausage and considered it on his fork. "Oh sausage of London, thou art tender and tasty."

"Oh, give over, you tart!" Donna admonished him. "Just because you've actually met the Bard…"

"Is that a hint of jealous I hear, Mistress Donna? May I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate…" His words were halted when Donna grabbed his wrist and shoved the sausage into his mouth; forcing him to chew on it. He spluttered dramatically and then said, "You could have choked me then!"

She merely smirked at him. "You're forgetting, mate, that I know about your respiratory bypass. You're harder to kill than a cockroach."

"You'd better not be comparing me to such a creature," he warned her; fluttering his eyelashes as he did so.

"As if I would," she innocently answered.

"Have you and your wife finished?" The proprietor stood over them expectantly, waiting to snatch away their used plates.

The Doctor threw Donna an amused glance and then politely answered, "Yes thank you. That was delicious."

The man fleetingly grinned back and joked, "I'll pass your compliments onto the chef." And then he sauntered off.

They both stood as one, and Donna didn't shake off his efforts to hold her hand as they left the café. It seemed right somehow to return to this easy relationship where they held hands, ran together, laughed about everything, and shared a life. Perhaps it was because she felt she was back where she belonged, if it was only for the evening.

His expression was almost her undoing when he tentatively asked, "Do you want to come back to the TARDIS for a tea or a coffee? We can talk more personally there."

"Why not?" she replied, and gained an ecstatic grin in return that melted the remaining hardness around her heart.

* * *

Ten minutes later they were standing in the kitchen of the TARDIS watching the kettle slowly boil. Donna could see the play of emotions over the Doctor's face; he was worried about this, very worried. And as usual she wanted to sooth his pain. With practised ease she placed a consoling hand on his arm and turned him to face her properly. "We don't have to thrash this out all in one go, you know. There's plenty of time to go through all of the whys and wherefores," she gently told him.

His anxiety slightly flickered on his face. "But what if I get it wrong, Donna? I could lose you both and I don't want to do that," he admitted.

She smiled encouragingly at him. "There you go! You've already admitted the most important thing. Everything should be easier now." She rubbed her fingertip on his chest, spiralling in comforting circles as she concentrated on her words. "We both want the same thing, so all we need to decide is in what context you want James and me in your life."

He caught hold of her hand, halting its progress across his shirt. "I find it difficult to talk like this; but then you know that. After Jenny I…"

She immediately shushed him, and drew his head down to rest on her neck, letting him wrap himself around her body. "I know. I understand why you've had problems accepting him as your son, but it hasn't been easy for him too. Okay, perhaps I haven't helped much seeing as I flew off the handle when I found out what you were going to do, but I couldn't let you do that again, not when you could have had the family you so desperately need."

There was a sniff from against the skin of her neck. "I know; you were right as usual. I should have worked harder to get close to him, and now you've replaced me with him."

"Hey," she softly protested, "that isn't the case. This may be only a human heart in here but it is still bigger on the inside."

That made him chuckle. "You may be a lot of things, Donna Noble, but you are never 'only' anything."

"That's nice to know," she remarked. "Can I have that in writing for my mum?"

He lifted his head and gazed directly into her eyes as he sincerely said, "I'd do more than that to satisfy your mother or anyone else. Can I ask you something, now that you are here?"

His darkly intense stare was promising so many things in that moment. "Fire away, Spaceman," she encouraged him, almost holding her breath as she anticipated his question.

"Will you stay the night, please? Come to bed with me."

"Anything for you," was her answer.

* * *

"What's going on in here?" Sylvia shouted at the prone figures of James and Catherine entwined on the bed when she threw open the bedroom door.

"Nan!" James cried out in shock; almost flinging Catherine off to the side as he hastily sat up. "Nothing, Nan. We were doing nothing!"

"Nothing at all," agreed Catherine anxiously.

"Certainly didn't look like nothing," Sylvia said, scowling at the pair of them. "Get yourselves downstairs this instant! I've no idea where you get such behaviour from. No doubt it's something you inherited from your father. Did you see him tonight?"

James was picking up discarded shoes at this point, and halted in his movements to acknowledge Sylvia's question. "Yes, Nan. He turned up at the cinema after we sat down. Didn't Gramps tell you that when you came in?"

"He mentioned something about the cinema turning out to be a surprise. So who's this young woman? Someone you know from college?"

"This is Catherine McKenzie," James answered. "She works at Torchwood."

"Hello Mrs Noble. I'm here with the… with Captain Jack Harkness," Catherine supplied, having gained the impression it was best not to mention the Doctor. "James was only showing me his CD collection."

Sylvia scoffed loudly at that as she wondered what Catherine had shown James. "Is that what they call snogging these days? Well I'm not having this sort of behaviour under my roof! Go on, get downstairs you two. I shall stand here until you do," she threatened them; and James didn't doubt for one second that she would carry out her threat.

Two very shamefaced people made their way back down the stairs and into the lounge. "Aye, aye! I see trouble has arrived," Wilf greeted the sight of them. "I hope you weren't getting up to anything."

"No Gramps," James answered meekly; and then wondered why Wilf laughed at him so loudly.

"I caught the pair of them, but I soon stopped that nonsense," Sylvia explained. "What would his mother have thought? We'll have a nice cup of tea and then Catherine can tell us all about herself and Torchwood."

Wilf couldn't help thinking Donna might have approved, but he thought it best to keep that opinion to himself. "Any chance of a biscuit with that?" he asked hopefully.

Sylvia was just about to make a snarky reply when the phone rang. Seeing Donna's number come up on the caller display she quickly grabbed up the phone and answered it. "It was your mum," she eventually said to James when the call ended. "She said she's staying over at a friend's tonight so don't worry about her." Sylvia then turned to Catherine to say, "And Donna said you can have her bed tonight if you don't want to walk all that long way home on your own. Though why she would say such a thing is beyond me."

"That's very kind of her," Catherine remarked. "What do you think I should do, James? Should I go home to my 'dad' or should I stay here?"

James pushed out a question along the link to his father. "I get the feeling that it might be best if you stay here. Is that okay, Nan?"

"I suppose so," Sylvia grumbled. "I'd better go and put on some clean sheets on the bed first."

Wilf waited for Sylvia to bustle off before asking James, "What was that really about?"

"Mum and Dad are having a serious talk in the TARDIS so it's best Catherine doesn't go back yet," James informed him.

"Ah! I see," Wilf simply said and then returned to his task of making the tea.

* * *

Unusually the Doctor led Donna into his bedroom instead of hers. This was a whole new experience for her, but she reasoned that this had to happen on his terms now that things were different between them.

It was only when she was standing by his bed that she realised that she no longer had any nightwear onboard the TARDIS. But the Doctor was determined that would not be a barrier to their fragile peace treaty, and he had rifled through some items to find her something. With many thanks she had disappeared into his en suite bathroom to get changed and he had leapt into action to prepare his room.

She adjusted the shirt he had lent her, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious; especially as it seemed a bit tight across the bust, revealing the outline of her breasts. She swivelled about, trying to decide if more than her breast outline was being revealed; but it was hard to tell in the dim bathroom light, so she decided to risk it. What was she thinking agreeing to spend the night with him like this? Her reflection above the sink merely scowled back at her with a knowing look. It wasn't as if they had never done this before, shared a bed, but things were different now; she was different now.

"Are you alright in there, Donna?" he called to her in concern.

She took a deep breath and yelled back, "I'm fine! I'll be out in a moment!"

He still had a few seconds, eh? Just enough time to plump up the pillows, lower the lights, strew some rose petals all over the bed… if he could find a rose to destroy like that. Now where do you get them in the middle of the night? He anxiously swept his gaze around the room, feeling justifiably glad with his clean-up efforts. It didn't look too blokey, did it? Although she might like blokey, now he came to think about it. She certainly tended to like more muscular men, he thought as he noticed his reflection. He lifted his pyjama-clad arm in disgust. Why did he think she'd be interested in him? It wasn't as though he was some sort of Adonis for goodness sake! Why did he even bother…?

"Hello," Donna's soft voice greeted him from across the room, and he felt his hearts soar and his hopes rise.

"Hello," he replied equally softly. Holding out a hand, he guided her to the bed, pulled the covers back and assisted her in. He then made her laugh by racing around the bed and practically jumping in beside her. "What?" he asked innocently. "It's cold out there."

"Yeah, sure it is," she mocked him. "And I'm a Dutchman."

"Het is fijn om te ontmoeten, de Nederlander," he answered cheekily, and got instantly swatted on the arm. That called for a pout accompanied by an arm rub; but it still didn't gain him much sympathy.

"You are such a tart! That gobbledegook had better mean something nice," she threatened him.

He took her hand and used it to draw her closer. "It's only a welcome in Dutch, Earthgirl. I would never say a word against you." His words were emphasised by the kiss he placed on her wrist.


	9. 9 Getting Up Close

**A/N2:** more nudge nudge, wink wink.

* * *

Previously:

_He took her hand and used it to draw her closer. "It's only a welcome in Dutch, Earthgirl. I would never say a word against you." His words were emphasised by the kiss he placed on her wrist._

_._

**Part 9: Getting Up Close**

.

"You smooth talking git!" Donna laughed at the Doctor and batted away the implied compliment. "Is that your new chat up line? Cos it's a good'un."

He gave her a cheeky wink and said, "You know me."

'Yes I do,' she thought, 'what are you up to?' All she knew was that whatever it was it involved using her somehow; and that wasn't necessarily a comforting thought.

'If only I could get her nearer,' he thought, 'near enough to kiss away those doubts'. But Donna was resisting those last few millimetres; much better than he was resisting the sight of her ample cleavage straining against the cotton of his shirt. If he rubbed against her he was liable to combust!

Giving in to an impulse, she brought a hand up to caress his sideburn. "I've missed being able to do this," she said softly. "You've always felt like I was stroking a pussy cat."

"Do you want a proper answer or a Jack answer to that," he wondered, throwing in an eyebrow waggle.

She inevitably swatted at his arm. "Now I know where James gets his cheekiness from. You are missing out big time with him. Most people agree he is adorable," she told him.

"Makes him sound like a little pup… Ow! You didn't have to hit me quite so hard that time! I meant it in a nice way. Blimey! I've got a son, Donna. I can still hardly believe it," he happily commented.

She began to run her fingers through his hair, combing it back with gentle tugs. "You'd better believe it! One big strapping lad; well, when I say 'strapping' I mean in the tall sense since he takes after you in all sorts of ways."

He nuzzled into her touch. "So when you say he's adorable you're really saying I am too," he reasoned immodestly.

Donna snorted a laugh. "Trust you to make that connection!"

"You love him despite all that though," he risked assuming.

"Of course I do," she agreed. "He's the most wonderful thing I've ever been given… and why are you looking at me like that? You sod! You were trying to entice me into saying something nice about you!" She decided to punish him by attacking his ribs with her tickling fingers.

"Stop! Stop! I can't take anymore!" he begged her after a few seconds. "You always did fight dirty."

"How am I fighting dirty?" she wondered as she stopped her assault. "Come on, I want to know."

"It's because I would never do this to you since I…" He then slithered to a halt in his explanation. The next words out of his mouth had to be considered very carefully; especially when you took in the way she was looking at him in that precise moment. "I wouldn't do this to a woman."

"Oh for the love of Pete! What's being a woman got to do with it? The only things I've got different to you are these!" Okay, perhaps she shouldn't have pointed to her breasts in the circumstances; it wasn't as though they needed the extra attention. She saw his gaze drop down onto the way she was pressing out of that shirt, and it stayed there for what felt like an eternity. Let's just say that he made it known to her that he liked what he saw.

"I've definitely not got those," he said with a squeak.

"Can we stop looking at my boobs now, please! There is more to me," she huffed.

To her horror his gaze swept further down her body. "Yes, you've got those legs," he remarked. "With those creamy thighs."

She wished he'd stop. It was making her go all unnecessary! As she made the decision to push him into kissing her he made the decision that he'd better stop for propriety's sake. Both of them were doomed for disappointment in that moment.

"Do you think…" The rest of her sentence was lost within a wide yawn, much to her annoyance.

"Tired?" he asked her. "Don't worry; we'll finish talking later." He then wrapped his arms around her body and snuggled into her hair. "Night night, Donna," he whispered as he placed a kiss on her temple.

She laid her head onto his chest and let herself be soothed by his warmth. "Night night, Doctor. And did you just kiss my head?" she asked sleepily.

"Yes," he admitted.

"Why?" she wondered in faint tones.

"Because I'm glad you're back here with me," he told her honestly.

She made no immediate answer, but she moved her head until she found the bare flesh beneath his pyjama jacket and briefly kissed his chest. "Missed you too," she mumbled, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

James caught Catherine as she was about to disappear into the bathroom to do her ablutions. "I'm really sorry about tonight, about you being forced to stay and for all that business with Nan earlier," he blurted out as quickly as he could.

She smiled at him, and stood on tip toe to briefly kiss him on the lips. "Don't worry about it. We're doing this for the greater good, aren't we?" she consoled him. "Seeing as we might be thrown together again tomorrow, how do you fancy going somewhere?"

James felt his embarrassment die and his hopes rise. "That'd be nice," he almost squeaked, and cleared his throat. "Yes, I'd like that. Where were you thinking?"

"Oh," she slurred seductively, running a tempting finger along his jaw. "We'll see what the weather is like and take it from there, shall we? I have a place in mind that might be fun."

It was no use, James couldn't resist the invitation and he swooped down to kiss her properly, crushing her to him as he savoured the taste of her lips.

"James! Bed!" roared Sylvia at him from somewhere nearby. "And don't think I have no idea what you are up to!"

He instantly released Catherine and smiled conspiratorially at her. "I'm going, Nan!" he called back. "Night," he quietly said to Catherine and entered his bedroom, feeling pretty good in the circumstances. So this was what it felt like to have a girlfriend, eh? Yes, he could get used to this.

* * *

The Doctor woke to find Donna gently rubbing a hand over his stomach. He didn't remember her undoing the buttons of his pyjama jacket, but obviously she had. For several minutes he laid there watching and luxuriating in her soft caresses across his flesh until he had to change position slightly and realised his new dilemma. It was dangerous to enjoy this so much; he had forgotten to dampen down his feelings and reactions. There was a very clear and present danger that she would thump him one any second.

Eventually he could bear it no longer, and whispered, "I think you'd better stop doing that."

Her hand immediately halted its slow dance on his stomach and she asked, "Why? What's the problem?"

He coughed to clear his throat. "The problem is me. I erm… This is… The thing is… I've… Damn! I should be able to tell you this!" he tried to spit out.

"You haven't!" she exclaimed incredulously; then she did what she shouldn't have done. She lifted the bedcovers to peek. Startled, she dropped the covers and averted her gaze. Bloody hell, she hadn't expected that! For a start he usually wore lots of layers; and for a second… Bloody hell! What should she do now?

"Sorry," he said forlornly. "I don't normally…"

"Yeah, I know," she answered, and immediately blushed. Well, she wasn't supposed to know, was she? "I mean, I'm assuming you don't, since I don't remember it."

At that point the absurdity of their situation hit her, and she burst out laughing. The Doctor fought his own grin. "What are you laughing at?"

"This. Us. We shouldn't find this embarrassing," she explained as she sat up, and he sat up next to her. "We're grown adults and it's not as if we haven't been in sexual relationships, for goodness sake. We know how bodies work."

"I should hope so, or life would be very confusing," he added, and risked reaching across the top of the covers to take her hand. "Do you genuinely not mind?"

She snorted at him. "Pft! Of course I don't. I'm only surprised about it happening with me in the bed."

He was momentarily gobsmacked. "Why are you surprised? Am I not allowed to react to your nearness? Do you have some special dispensation that places you above such things?"

She batted at his chest. "Trust you to get the wrong end of the stick," she complained. "I'm saying that you… Well, let's face it; I'm no oil painting or a young man's dream."

He shifted position so that he could cradle her head in both his hands. "Donna Noble, you are more than a painting on the wall; more than just an ideal. I wish you could see what I do as I look at your beauty. You are this old man's dream."

"You make that sound almost romantic," she remarked self-consciously. "I'm so glad I've got you back as my friend."

He manoeuvred their heads closer. "It was meant to be romantic. As for being friends, I don't want to pretend anymore; I want to get things out in the open. And yes, I do realise the irony of that statement considering what's just happened."

"I peeked, it wasn't as though you deliberately flashed me," she reasoned kindly. "Unless you intentionally wore those pyjama trousers for their flappability…"

He drew in a gasp of shock. Had he? Were his intentions dishonourable?

"Hey! Shh!" she crooned, and tenderly caressed his sideburn. "I was only joking. It's not as though I have any reason to doubt you. I do have a confession if that helps."

Was this it? With baited breath he asked, "You do?"

She nodded. "I've seen you completely naked."

"What? When did you do that?" he demanded. Several possible scenarios flashed through his mind.

"No, no, no, no! I don't mean I barged in on you in the shower or anything," she quickly denied, grabbing hold of his pyjama jacket to stop his retreat. "I'm talking about James when he sprung into being. For a short time he was a perfect match for you, and he wasn't formed wearing any clothing."

"Oh, I see," he blustered. "And that didn't put you off?"

She laughed loudly then. "What are you trying to say? That you are a black mucus expelling monster or something! I can't be put off that easily."

"Then you might… oh I don't know… want me?" he tentatively pondered.

"Of course I want you, you prawn! Why wouldn't I? Is this you going all emo on me again?" She carefully considered him. "Besides, we're sort of family now. Who'd have thought I'd end up as the mother of your son? I mean, _me_ of all people! It's a real turn up for the books. My money would have been on someone else entirely."

"Donna, I…"

"Which brings us neatly onto James," she said firmly. "We were supposed to be talking about him and you. Are you ready to get close and personal yet?"

"Yes," he replied as he took that as his cue, and pressed forward to briefly kiss her lips. He pulled back, waiting to see what her reaction would be and silently begging for it to be good.

"You kissed me! You actually kissed me and you're stone cold sober." Her expression turned from stunned to an angry frown within seconds. "This is a really sick joke; and you of all people should know better than to do this to me."

Before he could think straight she had thrown the covers back and was clambering out of the bed. He practically threw himself on her to halt her progress away from him, pinning her down in the process. "This is no joke," he sternly informed her; and realised how forcefully he was holding her wrists. His grasp weakened but he was determined not to let go.


	10. 10 Other Concerns

**A/N:** back to the plot…

* * *

Previously:

_He practically threw himself on her to halt her progress away from him, pinning her down in the process. "This is no joke," he sternly informed her_

.

**Part 10: Other Concerns**

.

"Doctor," she gasped out as she acknowledged his weight holding her down. He shifted his position slightly and she found her breath stuttering. Since when had he been so damned sexy and demanding? His lower body was pressing enticingly onto her, and if she wasn't careful her last thread of resistance would crumble away. Should she move? Would it encourage his latest madness? She risked a squirm of protest, and was 'rewarded' by his reaction and a sharp intake of breath.

Only at the last moment did he let go of her wrists as he lowered his head, his hands plunging into her hair to control her movements. With almost practised ease he brought his lips slowly down onto her mouth, and kissed her.

She kissed back, undulating beneath him, letting him consume her breath as he moved on her seductively. It started with small presses that gradually invited more, opening, tasting, exploring with intoxicating sweeps of his tongue. A groan forced it way out as she sought more. She clasped his body hungrily closer, running her hands underneath his pyjamas as his hands smoothed down to her thighs. All she could think of was the sensation of his mouth claiming her, and she wanted so much more of him.

He urged her on, seeking out a warm glowing pulse of desire; and she seriously considered letting him have his wicked way with her. That's when her phone insistently went off.

"What the …!" she exclaimed as she scrambled to grab her mobile phone when it went off in quick succession despite her best efforts to ignore it.

The number was home. If James was phoning her up to ask some petty question like could he record over Britain's Got Talent she'd kill him! "Hello," she said in greeting.

"Donna! Thank goodness you've finally picked up," came the anxious voice of Wilf. "I was beginning to think you'd dropped off the face of the Earth."

The Doctor moved to her side as Donna quickly sat up and listened carefully. "What is it Gramps? You sound really worried. Has something happened?" she asked with great concern.

"Oh my gawd!" He fought back his apprehensiveness. "Donna, it's James. He's gone missing."

That got her attention got and proper! "What do you mean he's gone missing?" she almost shrieked down the phone. "Tell me when this happened? When did you notice, and why was he out of your sight?"

The Doctor had her within his embrace, soothing his hands down her arms as a consoling gesture as he fought his own panic. When he tried to seek out James along their link there was nothing, as if he was deeply asleep or… disconnected.

"He went out with that Catherine," Wilf explained. "He said they wouldn't be long, and they've not come back. It's not like him to leave no word, so I rang him but I only get no answer. That's when I tried to get hold of you."

She could hear the plain fright in his voice. He was right; it was totally unlike James to go off with letting anyone know what he was up to. "Don't worry, Gramps. I'm on my way now. We'll get it sorted. Knowing our luck he's probably fascinated by some sort of gizmo and forgotten the time," she tried to reason; but she didn't believe it for a second. "See you soon. Bye."

The pair of them sat glumly contemplating each other.

"Well, Spaceman? Any idea what's going on?" she asked the Doctor.

He rubbed a hand down over his face. "Donna, I don't want to panic you but I think he might have been drugged."

* * *

They'd only just finished dressing and were entering the corridor when there was the sound of the TARDIS doors being slammed and the heavy footsteps off someone running towards them.

"Jack? What's going on?" the Doctor instantly asked the captain as he appeared in front of them.

"It's the Master. I think we've narrowed it down to where he might be but I had an urgent message from Wilf saying that James has gone missing. My guess is that the Master may have taken him and Catherine," Jack explained as quickly as he could.

"We'd already worked that one out. Has there been any sign of him? Of them both?" the Doctor asked anxiously.

"The last time I heard back from Catherine they weren't that far from home," Jack replied. "Down by the water."

Donna gasped. "The water," she repeated faintly as fear gripped her heart.

"Drowning isn't the Master's style. He loves torture much more," Jack commented bitterly.

"Jack!" the Doctor warned as he wrapped a comforting arm around Donna. He knew Jack had every right to make the comment but he didn't want Donna imagining all sorts of things.

"I'm sure he won't have done anything to James," Jack quickly amended; although his thoughts tacked on the word 'yet' because the Master couldn't be trusted to leave anyone alone for long.

"But…," Donna stammered, trying to control her spiralling emotions, "you will find him? Jack, please… find my baby."

"I promise, Donna, that'll I'll bring him back to you." Jack just hoped it wouldn't be in a body bag. That had happened too often in the past. If anyone could survive an encounter with the Master it was the Doctor's son; Catherine on the other hand was a different matter.

* * *

James rolled his head from side to side. That was weird; he didn't remember falling asleep. And what was that that god-awful smell? It felt like something was covering his head; every breath was scented with a horrible taste in his mouth.

Conscious came to him slightly more, and he became convinced there was some rough cloth over his head, blocking out a fair amount of light but he could make out the bare basics of a room. His eyes could trace the outline of a wall and a distant window.

He coughed and tried to spit away whatever was offending his tongue, but it didn't work. If only he could move his arms but they were held fast by a thin rope that encircled his body five times and bound his wrists. It was extremely easy to guess who might have done this to him.

Suddenly the hood was pulled off and he was squinting against the harsh light. "What do you want?" he hoarsely asked the figure that was silhouetted by the window.

The figure laughed, removing any trace of doubt in James' mind. "Go on, guess."

Several ideas raced about. Now which one should he choose? "This is a weird way to get another date with my mother."

There was another malicious laugh as the figure moved away from the window and advanced on James, allowing him to see clearly who his abductor was. The inane grin on Harry Saxon's face was no surprise at all.

"Your mother would have been a sweet victory; and to think she turned down this," Harry declared as he opened his arms wide in demonstration. "Who's to say she won't come running after me yet?"

"Running to kick your arse," James retorted, and was rewarded by Harry pouncing on him to grasp his throat tightly.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say, little Jamie. Mummy won't be able to save you now if I chose to choke the life out of you," he sneered. "So be nice!"

James fought for a breath and the means to calm himself down. His memories told him that the Master loved it when his victims squealed loudly. "I'm always nice. I was brought up that way," he choked out.

"So you were," Harry agreed. "And now you're mine."

At that point Harry brought his other hand up and plunged a syringe into James neck. James tried to make a sound of protest but his senses went out like a light and he fell back into darkness.

* * *

When he came to the next time he was still bound and hooded but laying down on some sort of surface. A thin mattress was his guess. And judging by the way the faint sounds from outside was echoing the room was no bigger than a normal police cell. There was no doubt about it; he was screwed if his dad didn't find him.

He stifled a sob. It would do him no good to breakdown or allow his emotions to get the better of him. Why hadn't he been given a sonic screwdriver of his own? Oh yes, because his father was frightened to spend more than a second with him! If he had had a real childhood he would have grown up with abandonment issues, James was sure of it.

Well he'd show the Doctor what he was made of; he could do this without him and his Time Lord ways! Now if he could wriggle his body about for a bit he could loosen the rope that was trapping his hands and escape; then he could go and search for Catherine.

There was the sound of heavy boots on concrete and then a large hand gripped James' shoulder. "Trying to get away from us, eh? Well, we'll see about that!" the gruff male voice told him and then something stabbed him just above the elbow. "Night night, princess," the voice mocked him, and then James lost consciousness.

* * *

The Doctor stood holding his head, concentrating intensely. "It wasn't for long but he isn't very far away," he told Donna and Jack as they anxiously regarded him.

They were stood by some industrial units, many of them well past their visual peak. It was only the three of them and they were well aware of their vulnerability in that environment.

"Is he alright? Have they hurt him?" Donna asked, gripping his arm in order to will the opposite.

"I'm not getting any pain as such. Just confusion and anger," the Doctor admitted. "They've probably got him heavily sedated."

"I wonder what he's got planned for him," Jack deliberately mumbled as quietly as he could. The Doctor caught it though; he knew he did.

Donna pushed all her imagined horror stories to the back of her mind. "What do we do now?"

"I think we ought to split up, "Jack suggested, "and keep contact by text. Is that okay?"

The other two nodded their agreement, and crept cautiously up the building of their choice.

* * *

"Ah, you're back with us," Harry remarked as the hood was pulled off James' head once more, and he found himself sat on a basic chair in the middle of a deserted workshop.

"Where's Catherine?" he tried to shout, but his throat was still sore and his voice didn't travel far.

"Your little friend? She's safe somewhere near here," Harry answered, and gave a nod to the large man standing by James' side. James assumed he was the goon that had manhandled him from the very start.

Was it only a few hours ago that he had been peacefully walking along the road with Catherine, telling her about the places he hoped to travel to one day, if he ever got the chance? He really hoped she hadn't been injured when they were grabbed and flung into a van.

"You'd better not have hurt her!" James threatened Harry, glowering at him as he did so.

"Why are you worried about her? Surely she is the Doctor responsibility. He does like his Earth girls," Harry mused. Anyone would think he actually cared to look at him, but James wasn't fooled.

James was determined to reply as positively as possible. "She is my friend and I'm sure Dad will be on his way by now."

"Oh! Oh whoo hoo!" Harry practically danced about in his delight. "I've been waiting to hear you say that, my dear boy. So you're the Doctor's son!" Harry almost crowed with self-congratulations as he contemplated James and then leant forward very close to his face. "And such a pretty boy too," he added, placing a finger under James' chin in order to force him to look back.

"Get your hands off me!" James spat at him. "If you don't you'll be sorry."

"Sorry?" Harry smirked at him. "Why; what are you going to do about it?"


	11. 11 Calling Dad

**Warning:** this contains some swear words spoken in anger; and adult themes.

**A/N:** I am so sorry for the major delay; it's partly the Master's fault. He wouldn't make up his mind when my muse asked what he did. [I was also dealing with the death and funeral of a friend.]

* * *

Previously:

_"And such a pretty boy too," he added, placing a finger under James' chin in order to force him to look back._

_"Get your hands off me!" James spat at him. "If you don't you'll be sorry."_

_"Sorry?" Harry smirked at him. "Why; what are you going to do about it?"_

* * *

**Part 11: Calling Dad**

.

There was a sudden rustle behind Harry and then he was spun on the spot.

"It's not him you have to worry about, Sunshine!" Donna yelled milliseconds before her hand made contact with his face, leaving a large red handprint across his cheek. "I suggest you move your arse away from my son or you'll be getting another one."

She stood panting with unrepentant rage, knowing she should have contacted the Doctor and Jack before racing in, but the Master's words had riled her beyond sense when she'd overheard them, and she had to get him away from her son at any cost.

"Ah, Donna!" He did that smirk again; but she was pleased to note that he wisely moved away from James while he rubbed his cheek. "It is such a shame that I didn't know of the existence of James when I originally met you; I could have had such fun with him."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked menacingly when she noticed James grow pale at the thought.

More of that confident smirk appeared. "I mean nothing beyond a compliment, my dear Donna. He is indeed a credit to you and a very handsome boy. In fact he is a valiant boy," Harry calmly said, hinting what he truly meant.

Unfortunately for him the Doctor had told her all about his year onboard the Valiant, so she instantly lashed out and landed one on his face again. "Think you are really clever, don't you?" she barked, spitting out the words as she seethed. "Well, let me tell you straight, you piece of shite; you ain't never going to get hold of my son without walking over my dead body!"

Harry really did have a monopoly on those smug grins. "Tut tut tut, Donna. You wound me with your insult." He added emphasis here by placing a hand over his heart, if it actually sat in his chest. "And that business about your death can be arranged... again."

What do you mean 'again'?" she demanded. "In case you haven't noticed, Master…," she continued in mocking tones, "I ain't dead and never have been."

"Au contraire," Harry disagreed, and he stepped completely away from James and into Donna's personal space to mock her up close. "You were extremely dead after I dealt with you before, and I assume your beloved Doctor told you all about it. How he pleaded for your life, how he cried when I whipped you, how he vomited when I took you…" He smiled sweetly when Donna's horror-struck expression appeared at the thought. "Yes, Donna. You were mine to do with as I liked, and I liked you an awful lot."

"So you're a sadistic rapist, and you're proud of that?" she asked in disbelief. "And you have the barefaced cheek to tell me you'd use my own son in a similar way?" She waited for a faint nod from Harry.

"Oh yes. He would have been especially sweet," Harry told her, emphasising the word 'sweet'.

She'd clean forgotten about the goon that had been in the room, her attention had been on Harry and getting him away from James by fair means or foul. So when she was grabbed from behind she cried out in shock.

"Mum!" James instantly yelled. "Get your hands off her!"

"Hmm. Mummy or James. James or Mummy," Harry pondered, placing a finger thoughtfully on his bottom lip as he flicked his gaze between the two of them. "I think I'll choose… both!"

"You bastard!" Donna spat at him as she fought against the goon in vain to hit him again.

"Come, come. I thought you of all people could think of a different insult for a change," Harry mocked her. "Take her to my room," he ordered his henchman. "That way we can get to know each other more in private."

"No!" James shouted out before he could help himself when Donna was being dragged away kicking with all her might. "I'll save you, Mum! I'll come and find you!"

"Aw, how sweet." Harry turned his attention back onto James and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Save her indeed. And how are you going to do that without dearest daddy to help you? Look how he's raced to do that. Just like he always has."

James knew that his mum must have griped to Harry about his father keeping away and he was determined not to be riled, so he forced himself to smile. "I don't need him to race here; instead I was thinking of applying a little bit of science."

Harry was about to ask how when he felt the press of cold steel on the side of his head. Then he heard a click. Jack grimly cocked the trigger of his gun when Harry glanced in his direction. "I should have known the Freak would turn up," he said with a sigh.

Jack gave him an extra jab in the temple in answer. What wouldn't he give to be able to fire a bullet and blow the Master's brains out at that moment? It was James' pleading look that stopped him.

"Am I too late for the reunion party?" the Doctor asked as he too sauntered into view. "I think he should wear the cufflinks, don't you, Jack?"

"Excellent choice," Jack readily agreed. He drew out a pair of handcuffs from his greatcoat pocket and snapped them onto the Master's wrists.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at James' ropes, which instantly disintegrated, releasing him in the process. As soon as James attempted to stand up the Doctor engulfed him in a hug, placing a kiss on his head.

_The Master… he had Mum dragged off somewhere_, James anxiously told him.

"Don't even think about it," Jack warned the goon as he reappeared. A quick wave of the gun soon sorted out any retaliation, and the bloke quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"Oh how touching," the Master remarked sarcastically when he saw James continue to cling to his father. "The daddy Doctor."

James angrily glared at him. "Jealousy doesn't become you," he spat.

"I wasn't planning on doing that to you," Harry retorted.

Jack gave him a swift whack on the side of the head, and Harry folded like a pack of cards. "Sorry, but his babbling was getting on my nerves," he excused his action. Jack then considered the prone figure of the Master with confusion. "Should he be able to do that? I thought he'd be more resilient."

The Doctor released his hold on James and wandered over. "Normally he wouldn't, but he obviously hasn't returned to his proper form. Which rather begs the question…" He swivelled round as thoughts and possibilities raced through his head. "He needed James to lure either Donna or me here. What does he need?"

"Apart from being a sadistic brute you mean?" queried Jack.

"He seemed to get off on frightening Mum. Could he gain some sort of psychic energy from that?" James mused. "Like in that film."

Jack groaned. "Why does everything come back to Disney films with you lot?"

"He has a point, Jack," the Doctor defended James' suggestion as he continued to consider the unconscious Master. "Something isn't quite right here."

"Then let's take this elsewhere, and deal with it properly," Jack said through gritted teeth. There was nothing he would like more than the chance to get even with the Master. "I'll call for some backup."

It was then that Harry opened his eyes and huffed a laugh. To the surprise and horror of all three watching, Harry glowed a pale yellow colour and blinked out of existence.

"No!" they all cried out; except for the goon. He merely realised he was being left to face the music on his own.

The Doctor slapped his tongue onto his palate as he tasted the air. "He must have devised a transmat and hid it up his sleeve," he murmured. "A rabbit mat."

"A what?" Jack asked in confusion, since he'd never heard of such a thing.

James sighed and supplied the answer, "He means it provided a hop, skip and a jump somewhere; so he can't be too far away. Pretty lame joke, huh?"

Jack's expression was pure 'tell me about it'. "All the same, the Master seemed different to last time," he commented.

"That's because he is," the Doctor retorted as he started to move away. "The Master has a very limited life this time around, and I still need to find out how he got here. Someone clearly helped him."

* * *

Donna had been flung into a room that was basically furnished with a bed, a small locked cupboard, a chair and a sink. As soon as the door had shut she had tried to escape, pummelling the door, tackling the window and even running a hand over the walls and floor. All of it futilely. It would seem that there was no way to break out until the door opened again.

Her search hadn't thrown up any means to defend herself against an attack either. She'd even tried lifting the cupboard, but it was firmly fixed into place. For all she knew the next time her solitude was broken she would have to fight for her life if not her honour. How had she got into this situation? She could have kicked herself for not calling Jack or the Doctor first.

Before she had the chance to properly prepare herself there was a soft squeak of sound by the door, a noise from the lock and then the handle slowly turned. Donna had to almost bite her hand to prevent herself from screaming out. There was no way she'd give Harry the satisfaction of hearing a fearful cry. She jumped up onto the bed and got ready to launch herself onto him as he entered. That would keep the bastard on his toes!

As the door fully opened and he stepped in, she pounced with a shout. Both of them landed in a heap on the floor.

"Do you have to keep throwing yourself at me?" a muffled voice beneath her asked.

"Doctor? Is that you?" she asked in disbelief, as she stopped her attack and rolled off him.

The Doctor brought down his arm from protecting his head. "I think it is. Why? Where you expecting someone else?"

She stifled a sob. "I thought…"

He immediately wrapped his arms around her. "Come here. You can stop worrying now that I've got you," he crooned. "And Jack's dealing with the Master, so you needn't worry about him anymore."

"What about James?" she inevitably asked. "Is he safe and away from that git?"

"Hey! That's not a nice thing to call Jack," the Doctor chided, and earned the swat on the arm from her. He pouted accordingly. "He's fine; a bit shaken from his first real encounter with danger but he'll get used to it."

She drew back from him. "Are you saying my son is a wuss, because he certainly isn't?"

"_Our_ son is very brave; just like his mother," he countered.

Donna decided to let the schmooze slide this time. "Nice save, Spaceman. Does this room hold special sentimental memories or can I actually get out of it now?"

He grinned proudly at her. "I think a trip somewhere else might be in order."

* * *

Jack had delivered the goon while James had gone in search of Catherine and found her in a similar room to the one Donna had been in. the rescue hadn't been as romantic as James had expected; perhaps that was down to stress? His heart was gladdened when he saw his parents together, clinging one another as though they didn't want to let go. But they did as soon as they saw him.

There was an extremely grateful reunion a few minutes later. Donna held tightly onto James as she asked Jack, "What did you do with Harry and the other bloke?"

"The Master is tied up somewhere and the bloke has been turned over to the local police force on kidnapping charges. I'll get the paperwork tidied up later on so that James will be left alone," Jack answered.

Donna smiled gratefully at him. She had a feeling it wasn't quite over yet.


	12. 12 The Last Kiss

**A/N:** is this the end? I am so sorry for the enormous delay but my muse was distracted elsewhere; so the plot holes might be a bit more obvious.

* * *

**Part 12: The Last Kiss**

.

They had gone straight t Productions, expecting to find Harry; and they had, sort of. In the sanctuary of Harry's office they found a transmat covered in some sort of goo. The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver over it and then frowned.

"Well, Doctor? Can you tell us where the Master has gone?" Jack eagerly asked. He was keen to get his chance to beat the living hell of the renegade Time Lord.

"Come on, Spaceman!" Donna chided him when he seemed reticent to say anything. "Spit it out!"

The Doctor peered at the readings on his sonic again. "The transmat has definitely been used recently. I'd say within ten minutes of us arriving here which means that the Master did teleport her and then out again."

"So? What's the problem?" Jack encouraged.

The Doctor dipped down and cautiously pressed a finger into the goo, bringing up the tip to smell. "He's been taken; probably by a Judoon judging by this. Either that or he's become a sherbet fountain."

"Judoon? Is that good or bad?" Donna queried.

"That's good, Mum," James commented from behind her. "It means he's been arrested."

The Doctor sadly looked at him. "And executed," he added. "They would have plenty of crimes on their arrest sheet to warrant that."

"For that to happen, someone here on Earth would have had to report him to the Shadow Proclamation," Jack argued. "I haven't done so, so how did they know?"

The Doctor gazed at all his companions in the room and carefully considered this question. "I'm sure that can easily be explained by a disgruntled alien; can't it, Catherine!" It gained the startled reaction he had been hoping for from Catherine. "Did you honestly think I wouldn't know what you are and what you might do? As soon as James went missing I knew you were responsible. It's what your species do, after all."

"I didn't do anything," Catherine protested. "Honest I didn't!"

"Really? Next you'll be telling me that Jack persuaded you to come into the TARDIS rather than the other way round. Nice play with the pheromones by the way. Impressive even. What did the Master promise you when you rescued his ring? Eternal life was it?" he pondered.

Catherine hesitated before answering, "He promised he wouldn't harm my family. They're being held in the basement o Productions here. Please, Doctor! I really like James; he's lovely and I meant him no harm." She turned to give James an imploring look; but he had already backed well away from her as though she was contaminated. "All I tried to do was fit in and live like a human."

"Except that isn't easy," the Doctor added sympathetically.

Donna was clutching James protectively by then. "What is she? Can she cause us any harm?"

"No," the Doctor consoled her. "Catherine is an Augustain; she can emit pheromones in a way similar to Jack here, but it comes out more like a Jedi mind trick."

James touched his lips as he gazed in shock at Catherine. "Then she…"

"Yes, she led you into the Master's path," the Doctor confirmed.

"But… why?" James wondered in his confusion.

"Because the Master does things for fun," Jack supplied. "He likes to induce fear, and take what he wants."

Seeing James' bewilderment and shocked relief, Donna instantly hugged him. "So you reported him," she remarked to Catherine.

"As soon as I could, when I was parted from James and thrown into a storage room. I couldn't stand the thought of him being tortured too. I'm sorry, Jack, but I borrowed your vortex manipulator to do redirect the message." Catherine then gingerly held out Jack's precious vortex manipulator to him. He greedily took it back.

* * *

They easily found Catherine's parents incarcerated below OHG Productions; providing a very happy and relieved family reunion. And then they were on their way. Several minutes later Donna was surprised to find herself being dropped off outside her mother's house with James but not much of an explanation.

"Tell me, have I got this right? Are you walking away and leaving us?" Donna asked the Doctor, shocked that he could still consider doing so.

"I have to return Catherine back to Torchwood, sort out some immigration stuff for her family and then… I don't know. Get back to normality," he replied.

She felt her heart sink to her boots. The last few days had meant nothing to him at all, it would seem. "Don't forget that you promised James a trip," she softly reminded him. "You need someone with you."

"I'll be back soon," he promised. "Bye for now."

As he made his way to the console he overheard Catherine's mother ask her, "Who is the lady with the red hair?"

"She's the Doctor's Donna," was the low reply. "They have a son but they broke up for some reason. It's sad really because he loves her and she's mad about him."

"What's stopping them get together?" her mother quietly queried.

"I don't know. Perhaps they aren't allowed to be together? I thought it was some sort of argument before all this but… It doesn't make sense."

"Unless he doesn't really want her? Such a shame when children are involved."

The Doctor was left wondering how he could defend himself without revealing he had heard their whispered conversation. "Here we are!" he announced as they landed. "Torchwood and the tender care of Jack Harkness."

Jack tried to entice him to stay longer, but the Doctor had other plans. Had he been stupid for walking away from Donna? Was he allowed to hope in this way? There was only one way to find out. And involved asking the question within his hearts.

* * *

The landing in Sylvia's back garden was smoother and suitably away from her patio doors this time. There was an excitement in the air; the TARDIS was almost buzzing with it. With renewed vigour the Doctor stepped out and strode up to the door.

It was Wilf who answered the door to him. "Doctor! Come in, lad. It's lovely to see you again," Wilf greeted him, adding in a hug for good measure. "Look who's here!" he called out to the rest of the house.

There were fervent footsteps on the stairs and then James appeared at full pelt. "Dad!" he called out. "You came back!"

"Of course I came back for you," the Doctor almost scoffed. He then held out his arms. "Don't I get hugs anymore?"

James smiled broadly and launched himself at him, wrapping his arms around his father. Wilf wiped a manly tear away before turning politely away. "Tea anyone?" he asked.

"Yes please," both the Doctor and James replied, still holding tightly to each other.

"Where's your mother?" the Doctor then whispered to James.

"Upstairs drying her hair," he answered. "I don't think she heard you come in."

"Then I'd better go and surprise her," the Doctor replied, releasing his hold; and they exchanged a knowing look.

Double checking that Sylvia wasn't hovering in the vicinity, he bounded up the stairs two steps at a time and tapped lightly on Donna's bedroom door. There was the sound a hairdryer turning off, followed by hasty movement on the other side and then the door was wrenched angrily open.

"For the last time I have not got your bloody…," Donna blazed until she caught sight of the Doctor standing there, and all her fire fizzled away.

He thought she looked magnificent as she stood there in her dressing gown tied loosely around her body and her hair still hanging damply around her head. She self-consciously touched some strands as she realised that she probably looked a sight in her naked non-made-up state. What she didn't know was that the Doctor was rather keen on seeing her pale freckly skin and natural beauty.

"Hello Donna," he said.

"You came back," she said incredulously. "I thought you were gone for good."

He peeked behind her shoulder and remarked, "Is that why your bear has been thrown at the wall?"

She peered behind her and blushed. "He did sort of get the blame," she admitted. "I'll go pick him up."

Leaving the door open in invitation, she made her way over to the assaulted green bear and picked him up off the floor; getting him a friendly smooth and pat down as she replaced him on the bed.

He shut the door gently and joined her by the bed, taking her hand as he did so. "I'm sorry," he softly told her. "I shouldn't have let you walk away from me in the first place. I've been an idiot to let you go."

She trembled. "What are you saying?"

He caressed her cheek, running his fingertips delicately along her cheekbone. "Oh Donna. Do you not know after all this time? I want you to spend the rest of your life with me. I want to wake up every morning with you by my side, and go to bed with you every night. I can't think about anything but you; everything in my life leads to my need for you."

"So you're asking me to be your permanent companion? I offered that before and you broke my heart. I'm not sure…"

He could feel this moment possibly slipping away from him and he had to let her know before it was too late. "Would it make a difference if you knew I love you?"

"I don't know; it might. Do you?"

"Do I what?" he asked somewhat distractedly. Well, he had embedded a hand within her long tresses and was ghosting his lips over hers.

"Do you love me, you prawn?" she murmured.

"There's only one way to answer that," he responded to her plea. Of course that was when he kissed her, with soft kisses that slowly grew to open mouth kisses, deepening to smoothing his tongue over hers, tasting and drinking her in as she eagerly reciprocated his every action.

There was a yell of "He's _where_?" from outside the bedroom that finally caused them to release each other.

"I should get some clothes on," Donna stated.

He ran a finger down the lapel of her dressing gown, "I quite like the naked look; especially on you."

She softly chuckled. "I'm sure that argument would work on Mum."

"I'd rather it worked on my wife."

She gawped at him. "Did you just say what I thought you said?"

He nuzzled into her neck. "I was going to leave that question until later, when we've resumed this conversation in the TARDIS, but will you? Will you marry me? Properly this time; and I'm certainly not counting that time on Ikenyu."

"Yes!" She guided his mouth back to hers, kissing him as passionately as she could as she poured her love for him into it.

"I see! Like father like son! You just couldn't keep your hands off her!"

They broke apart to see Sylvia glaring back at them through the open bedroom doorway; James stood anxiously next to her on the landing, almost jigging in his agitation.

The Doctor reached across, grabbed hold of the door handle, and said to Sylvia very firmly as he shut it, "Excuse me, but this is none of your business. We have more pressing matters to worry about."

There was an audible gasp of shock from outside.

"Did you just…?" Donna was completely confounded.

He grinned smugly back at her as he returned to their embrace. "Yes, I did just put my hands back on you. Now what were you saying?" With that he resumed their kiss and forced her to topple over onto the bed with a laugh.

"Why do I get the feeling that you are still avoiding having that meal with my mum?" Donna wondered.

"Don't worry," he consoled her. "She has our sons held hostage to prevent me running away."

"Sons? We only have the one," she reminded him.

"Ah, about that." He suddenly looked sheepish. "There's something else we need to discuss in the near future…"

#####


End file.
